Abdul Ghafoor – a PPP jiala forever

Abdul Ghafoor is a well-known figure in the area who also uses the venue for sleeping

ISLAMABAD: A PPP jiala has been religiously following the routine of cleaning the site at Liaquat Bagh where former prime minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated for the past many years, creating new benchmark of loyalty and ideological commitment.

Abdul Ghafoor, 73, is a well-known figure in the area who, besides cleaning the assassination site, also uses the venue for sleeping. He says he is on a 24 hours duty against which he claims nothing.

Gafoor says for the past eight years when a monument was built in memory of the late Bhutto he has been cleaning the place for the sake of his own internal satisfaction.



Clad in old and faded uniform of the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) police, he also wears the party flag which makes him different from others.

The interaction of this political worker with The Express Tribune had been a phenomenal event. Seeing him cleaning the place forced this scribe to make a stop and offered him some financial help that was turned down with thanks.

“No sir, I am a well-off person and am financially sound. I don’t take financial assistance. I can take it only if you belong to the PPP,” he replied.



When told that this scribe did not support the PPP’s ideology he refused to take financial assistance from him.

Later when Abdul Ghafoor was interviewed he said his association with the PPP as a jiala started on November 30, 1967.

“I was assigned the job of cleaning the house of Dr Mubashir Hassan in Lahore where PPP founder Z A Bhutto and other party leaders, including Mustafa Jatoi and Hanif Ramay had gathered.



“I was asked to do cleaning of the house. Since then I have been doing my job honestly,” he observes.

While giving a justification of his love with the PPP, ZA Bhutto and his family, he says he (Bhutto) raised voice for the right of the poor and he was the one who gave the rights to labourers in the country. Moreover, he feels that Bhutto was victimised which further intensifies his love for him.

Ghafoor also served in the army and got pension. He afterwards joined the ICT police and was also awarded pension from the ICT police.



While narrating his story as a political activist, he told The Express Tribune that despite being in the army he used to wear the flag of the PPP. Replying to a query, he states he avoided disciplinary action on this account because of Gen (retd) Tikka Khan who had soft corner for him.

Ghafoor while replying to another query states that he never paid visit to any PPP leaders to get any personal benefits. He says whoever pays him a visit he welcomes him or her but he would never go to their residences.

He reveals special gratitude to Naheed Khan who, according to him, attempts to take care of him on a number of occasions.


Although he has retired from the police, he still wears faded and ill-fitted uniform of the ICT police, besides wearing a whistle and a few keys. And this is all materialistic assets which he has as a PPP jiala.

Ghafoor has two sons and two daughters -- all married. He has seen three generations of the Bhutto’ s family, besides witnessing many ups and downs with regard to the PPP.

However, his loyalty with the party needs no specification and it is beyond any boundary and limitations.