Eighth death anniversary: Disenchanted PPP workers vow to keep BB’s mission alive

Pay homage to the Daughter of the East

RAWALPINDI: Eight years since the tragic assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto that shook everyone, and brought the country and the twin cities to a halt for three consecutive days, the site of the attack on Sunday was an uplifting as well as a sober reminder of both the deep-seated love PPP workers continue to carry for their slain leader, and the downward slide and divisions that mar the once largest democratic party of the country.

United in grief but divided along factions, local leaders and activists  of the party gathered at the site of assasination outside the historic Liaqat Bagh, to pay homage to the first woman prime minister in the Muslim world.

The two groups, one led by Ibne Rizvi representing the Pakistan People’s Party (Workers) visited the site first, followed by another, later in the day headed by Raja Imran Ashraf.

Estranged activist and leader of the PPP (Workers), Naheed Khan and her husband Safdar Abbasi, went to Larkana, Sindh to pay their respects to the former prime minister.

The PPP (Workers), who had gathered outside Liaqat Bagh arranged recitation of the Quran at the site of the assassination, and offered fateha. They paid homage to the charismatic daughter of the East who was assassinated in a gun and bomb attack, in an election rally outside the Liaqat Bagh on December 27, 2007.

The leaders and activists pledged to rebuild the party according to the vision of their slain leader, and to keep Bhutto’s mission alive.

Meanwhile, later a large number of workers of the PPP led by Raja Imran Ashraf, brother of former prime minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, former managing director of the Pakistan Baitul Mal Zamurd Khan and Rawalpindi PPP President Amir Fida Paracha gathered at Liaquat Bagh.

Imran Ashraf, while addressing the gathering outside Liaquat Bagh said that a conspiracy was hatched to assassinate Bhutto after she returned to the country. He said that she was killed for her commitment to the cause of the poor.

He urged the party workers to forge unity among their ranks, and carry on the message of the slain leader.

Ashraf said that all efforts would be made to end intra-party differences.

He said that all leaders of the PPP would continue supporting Bilawal and would help him become a great leader. Zamurad Khan said that the PPP workers would continue pursuing Bhutto’s mission.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 28^th, 2015.