Preparations ready for Benazir’s anniversary

Syed Murad Ali Shah has reproached Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) central government for deliberately ignoring Sindh in the development projects.

"For Sindh they only make shallow announcements besides putting covers on some manholes," Shah said while talking to the media on Sunday in Larkana district.

He visited the district to review arrangements at the mausoleum of Bhuttos in Garhi Khuda Bux Bhutto for the 14th death anniversary commemoration of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto as well as the Pakistan Peoples Party's public meeting.

Criticizing the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan, he said euphemistically that the results of the local government elections in K-P have laid bare the popularity of the PTI and its federal and provincial governments.

He tacitly held the center responsible for delay in the completion of the green bus project in Karachi, telling that its cost had escalated from the initial estimate of Rs16 billion to the current Rs35 billion. He said he wanted to start the service at the earliest.

"The federal government has also created confusion for the red line bus project for Karachi for which the Sindh government is taking a loan from the Asian Development Bank," he alleged. Responding to a question, he informed that the provincial government has requested the Election Commission of Pakistan to conduct the local government election in the province in the months of February or March.

He contended that the holy month of Ramazan, summer heat and the budget sessions which will follow the month of March will make the conduct of the LG elections difficult. The CM informed that the meeting of the PPP's central executive committee which is held on the eve of December 27, will now take place in the month of January for which the date and venue will be announced later.

He also confirmed the media reports that PPP's co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari will not attend the public meeting in Larkana because his health condition does not allow it. Sindh Minister for Works and Services Syed Zia Abbas Shah on Sunday said that Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto passed away 14 years ago but she was still alive in the hearts of 220 million people of the country.

He said Bhutto family sacrificed their lives for the security, prosperity, restoration of democracy and strengthening of democratic institutions of Pakistan. Shah said that even in the worst period of dictatorship, Mohtarma endured the hardships of prisons and fought against the dictatorship. She loved her country and people.

Meanwhile, Sindh Minister for Universities and Boards Muhammad Ismail Rahoo said that despite all the conspiracies Benazir faced during her life, she never gave up and did not back down from her goals. He was speaking at a seminar A tribute to the first lady prime minister of Islamic World.

The Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto (SMBB) Chair of the University of Karachi organized the seminar at the Auditorium of the Karachi University Business School. It was organized in connection to the 14th death anniversary of Benazir Bhutto.

The KU Vice Chancellor Professor Dr Khalid Mahmood Iraqi said there are three visionary leaders in Pakistan to date, Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, and Benazir Bhutto. He mentioned that all these leaders believed that the future lies in adherence to the constitution, protection of minorities, and women empowerment.

He said that the personalities are mortal, but their ideology and work for the betterment of society always leave behind a mark. Meanwhile, the Dean Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences and the SMBB Director Chair Professor Dr Nusrat Idrees said Benazir is a role model for Pakistani women as well as for the whole world. She fought for the survival of democracy till her martyrdom. She wanted to give equal rights to everyone in society and talked about it on every platform.

SMBB Advisory Committee Professor ND Khan said he was among those few people who asked Benazir Bhutto to delay her return in 2007 as he among few others feared that her life would be in danger if she returns to the country before the general elections.