Karsaz tragedy: Bigoted minority cannot impose its agenda on majority says Gilani

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani said on Tuesday the courageous people of Pakistan would not allow a handful of bigoted minority to impose its agenda on peaceful majority.

“The Karsaz tragedy marks a watershed in that it drew a clear line between moderate, pro-democracy, and peaceful political forces and extremist, militant, and bigoted elements,” Gilani said in his message on the 4th anniversary of Karsaz Tragedy on October 18.

“This clash between the champions of progressive and democratic Pakistan and the forces of backwardness and bigotry continues even today. It is battle between two kinds of ideas,” he added.

He recalled that once Benazir Bhutto said, “an inferior idea can only be killed by a superior idea.” The idea of a progressive and democratic Pakistan is potent enough to defeat the idea of militancy, terrorism and extremism, he added.

“Hundreds of sacrifices offered by the armed forces, personnel of security organizations and the people at large prove that the courageous people of Pakistan would not allow a handful of bigoted minority to impose their agenda on peaceful majority,” Gilani maintained.

Paying rich tribute to the victims of Karsaz tragedy, Gilani expressed the government’s resolve to further empower people, to strengthen institutions and to make the people of Pakistan the master of their destiny.

“The best way to pay tribute to Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto and hundreds of martyrs is to fulfill her vision. The 18th of October reminds us of the brutal and cowardly attack on the ‘Caravan for Democracy’ led by Shaheed Mohtrama Benazir Bhutto four years ago in 2007.”

He said Bhutto's return from exile on that fateful day promised a beginning of a new chapter in the history of Pakistan, adding, “Through her relentless struggle for the restoration of people’s rights, she symbolized democracy, representative rule and  empowerment of people.”

“The millions of people who flocked to the streets of Karachi from across the country to greet their beloved leader looked up to her as a leader who represented socio-economic development for the underprivileged sections of society,” he added.

Gilani said that the perpetrators of doom and gloom were so upset with the dawn of a new era of change that they mounted deadly attacks on the life of Bhutto at Karsaz.

“Around 200 workers of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) had embraced martyrdom and hundreds of others were wounded in these attacks,” he said and added those who undertook the attacks wanted to snatch from the people their hopes, their dreams of future and the right to elect their representatives.

“Little did they know that the democratic aspirations espoused by Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto were etched deeply in people’s psychology, minds and personalities,” he added.