Pakistan

Zardari donates blood on BB's birth anniversary

President Asif Ali Zardari donated his blood at Nodero House on the 57th birth anniversary of Benazir Bhutto on Monday.

Agencies June 21, 2010

President Asif Ali Zardari donated his blood at Nodero House on the 57th birth anniversary of former premier and PPP Chairperson (late) Benazir Bhutto on Monday.

Blood donation camps were setup across the country where thousands of PPP workers turned to dontate blood to celebrate the sacrifice made by the former prime minister.

In Sargodha, former MPA Mirza Ilyas Baig celebrated Benazir Bhutto's birthday at his residence where later workers donated blood at a blood camp.

MPA Javed Shah along with workers also donated blood at Tehsil Hospital in Rohrri.

Thousands of workers also dontated blood at the several camps set up in the Khyber Pukhtunkhwa province.

Zardari, accompanied by Interior Minister Rehman Malik and PPP information Secretary Fauzia Wahab, arrived in Naudero on Sunday to take part in the celebrations.

In a message on the eve of Bhutto’s birthday, President Zardari said that Benazir fought courageously against the militants and extremists who were bent upon forcing their ideological agenda on the people through brute force.

The president has also asked the party workers to donate blood on this day, as Bhutto “shed her blood for the people,” he said.

“On her birthday let us recall the advice she gave to the people a few weeks before her assassination: Please continue the fight against extremism, dictatorship, poverty and ignorance,” the president stated.

According to provincial minister for finance Tanvir Ashraf Kaira, more than 80 blood donation camps were set up across Punjab on the occasion.

Meanwhile Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani said that Benazir was a symbol of national integration and the best tribute that the nation can pay to her is “an allegiance to the principals which she espoused vigorously in her life and the values she promoted consistently in her career.”

Speaker of the National Assembly Dr Fehmida Mirza, in her message on Bhutto’s birthday said that Benazir was a visionary and a stateswoman.

“Mohtarma fought for the downtrodden and oppressed society and longed for a forward-looking Pakistan, where women were not subjected to humiliation, torture and treated with respect as equal partners to progress and prosperity,” said a press release issued by the speaker. PPP information secretary Fouzia Wahab has said that “although Bhutto couldn’t live longer, she will always survive through her lasting struggle and vision which is instilled in our body and soul forever.”

Also, senior minister Khyber-Pakhtunkwa, Rahimdad Khan while talking to APP said, “We have chalked put comprehensive programmes to celebrate her [Bhutto’s] 57th birthday by donating blood to pay respect to the champion of democracy.”

He had said that all the major and local hospitals in the province and agency headquarters hospital in Fata will organise camps where ministers, MNAs, MPAs, PPP’s district presidents and office bearers and other will participate in the blood donation campaign.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 21^st, 2010.

COMMENTS (9)

Ahmed Khan | 13 years ago | Reply Good comment by Murtaza..lol!! Corruption is a name that will always be associated with the name Bhutto..

Fayzan | 13 years ago | Reply BB is history now. We should move forward by first identifying the group that was involved in her assassination. We should move away from personality politics and work towards strengthening institutions. No one is greater than pakistan...Long live Pakistan...

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farhan | 13 years ago | Reply To Khobar: you are right when you said that BB was a great leader. But, you are equally wrong when you criticised present PPP policy of reconciliation. Why? because Asif Ali Zardari and other seniour politicians of PPP are thinking for the generations to come. Pakistan stands where there is no short term solution of problems like extremism and poverty. In reconciliation, Pakistanis see the furture of Pakistan, and not in the mistrust between political parties, especially between PPP and MQM. Both, parties are successfully collaborating against extremism -a policy that BB also wanted to pursue to save Pakistan from extremism.

Murtaza Ali Jafri | 13 years ago | Reply I. Hope. Someone. Tests. The. Blood. First.

Basma | 13 years ago | Reply Really Zardari, if you really wanted to commemorate her 'bloodshed', why couldn't you open up camps that collaborated with non-profit hospitals in various Pakistani cities like Sahara and Shaukat Khanum and let the donated blood get to people who actually needed it?

Yasser | 13 years ago | Reply May Allah rest her soul in peace. Achievements Pakistan achieved in her tenure twice as PM of Pakistan can't be explained in words because it starts from corruption and ends at animosity and political disorder. last but not least, public is dying from poverty but the politicians are busy in celebrating and highlighting birthdays, certainly a tribute to this nation

Farigh | 13 years ago | Reply Her death was a tremendous lost, not because she was a great leader but because it lead to Zardari becoming our president. She was bold and charismatic. There is a great lesson to be learnt from her life as well, the corruption allegations which mar her political career were all because of her husband and he ,and even her childrens, don't care about catching her killers.

Roha Ch | 13 years ago | Reply Benazir was a great leader. This day would have been better if she would have been with us.

Khobar | 13 years ago | Reply Alas, she is not with us. Pakistan was in dire need of charismatic leader like BB. It is incomprehensible to see lack of interest of the present set up regarding unearthing the culprits. It was interesting to read a news item in a leading english daily published from Karachi about a meeting to pay tributes to BB. Interestingly, Farooq Sattar of MQM was also present. His statement on that occasion is as follows: The MQM leader said a conspiracy was hatched to create rural-urban divide when Benazir Bhutto’s (BB’s)reception rally was targeted in the metropolis. He recalled that a TV anchorperson had asked BB prior to her departure for Pakistan that her reception rally would be attacked by the MQM workers. Sattar asked the government to conduct the interrogation of the anchorperson to unmask the conspiracy behind the assassination of the PPP chairperson.* If my memory is not weak, when BB's procession reached at the point of the incident, the street lights blacked out!!!. Minutes after that there was a blast. It was coordinated move. Who was at the helm of the affairs of Karachi at that time? It is worth pondering. Besides, it hurts me when people like Farooq Sattar are 'paying tributes' to Shaheed BB. Remember those days when BB was called as Mrs Zardari and filthy language was being used against her. Reconciliation? My bloody foot. BB did aspire for reconciliation but not to the point which AZ is pursuing. He has literally surrendered Sindh to MQM. In the end, I think CJP should take personal notice about the lacklustre investigations undertaken by the present government. CJP would be doing great service to the nation because the people want perpetrators of this crime to be brought to justice.

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