‘Black day’ observed across Sindh

PPP workers, leaders come out to condemn 1977 military coup

KARACHI/HYDERABAD: The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) observed on Wednesday a ‘black day’ in the province, condemning the 1977 military coup that overthrew the government of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.

Organising different events, including rallies, seminars and public meetings, PPP leaders renewed their resolve to dislodge dictatorship through democratic dispensation. During a rally organised by the party’s youth wing in front of the Karachi Press Club, participants carried Bhutto’s portraits.

“Democracy is the best revenge against dictatorship. Our leadership has proved it and we will continue this mission in a democratic way,” said PPP Sindh President and Parliamentary Minister Nisar Ahmed Khuhro. He spoke about the importance of the day and said his party observes July 5 as a black day because it was the day the country’s first democratically-elected prime minister and his government was ousted by a ‘tin-pot dictator’, General Ziaul Haq.

At another event, workers and leaders of the party gathered in front of the PPP secretariat and paid rich tribute to Bhutto, condemning General Zia and his martial law. Rashid Rabbani, Waqar Mehdi, Saeed Ghani and MNA Shaida Rehmani were among others who attended the event.



Rehmani, who is also president of the party’s Karachi division women wing, said that July 5 was the blackest day the country had ever experienced. “After Mohammad Ali Jinnah, Bhutto was the leader who became a powerful voice of the voiceless poor,” she said, adding that the masses were a source of power and Bhutto had empowered them. “Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was a dynamic leader who made country’s defence strong by building the nuclear programme. It is time we learn from his vision to make the country prosperous and strong,” she said.

According to the MNA, anti-democratic forces eliminated Bhutto but could not eradicate his vision. “He gave the nation identity and brought about a revolution in the real sense of the word. He introduced the one man, one vote principle,” she told participants of the gathering, adding that Bhutto sacrificed his life for the cause of democracy and the masses but refused to submit to the retrogressive and anti-democratic forces.

PPP Sindh Secretary-General Waqar Mehdi called Bhutto a true patriot of Pakistan. “Not only Bhutto, but his daughter Benazir and sons Murtaza and Shahnawaz also sacrificed their lives for this country,” he said, quoting Bhutto’s last words ‘I would much rather be destroyed by the military than by history’.

“He was always suspicious that his trial was a mere formality and that justice would not be done,” said Mehdi.



Rest of the province

In some districts, the party's local chapters organised seminars while in other districts protest demonstrations were also held.

"Zulfikar Ali Bhutto saved Pakistan," said Sindh Assembly Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani while speaking at the death anniversary of iconic Sindhi folksinger Allan Faqir in Jamshoro district.

He recalled that in a letter to Quaid-i-Azam, Bhutto had pledged that he would offer the sacrifice of his and his children's lives to protect Pakistan. "History bears witness that Bhutto did what he had said he would do."

The slogan 'zinda hay, Bhutto zinda hay [Bhutto is still alive]’ kept resonating in the auditorium hall of the Hyderabad Press Club where the PPP’s district chapter arranged a commemorative event. "Zulfikar Ali Bhutto gave the country its Constitution and nuclear programme, thanks to which no enemy can cast a bad eye on Pakistan," said Sagheer Qureshi, PPP Hyderabad's president.

Local leaders and workers wore black armbands in remembrance of their party founder. In their slogans, the PPP workers also condemned the repeated military takeovers in Pakistan, which they said impeded the entrenchment of democratic norms in society.



"The remnants of Ziaul Haq would never support the democratic process," said MPA Syed Aijaz Shah Bukhari while speaking at an event in Tando Muhammad Khan district.

The PPP's district chapters in Hyderabad, Mirpurkhas and Nawabshah divisions also organised activities to observe the black day.

PPP-Shaheed Bhutto, the faction led by Ghinwa Bhutto, wife of the late Mir Murtaza Bhutto, also marked the black day. "On this day, after removing Bhutto's elected government and arresting the leader, an era of dividing the Pakistanis along ethnic lines was started," said PPP-SB's Sindh organiser Ali Ahmed Palipoto in a statement. "Forty years since that day, the people of Pakistan are still reaping what Ziaul Haq had sowed."

Rallies and seminars were also held in Larkana, Sukkur, Mirpurkas and Khairpur.