A leader remembered: On BB’s death anniversary, push comes to shove

Scuffle breaks out at a gathering of PPP workers at Nishtar Hall.

PESHAWAR:

The seventh death anniversary of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto was observed in various parts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) on Saturday. In Peshawar, though, a scuffle between workers marred the event.

Benazir Bhutto was killed in a gun and suicide bomb attack on December 27, 2007 following an election rally in Rawalpindi, weeks after she returned to Pakistan from years in self-imposed exile.

Fire of terror

Speaking at a gathering of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) at Nishtar Hall, former prime minister and senior party leader Raja Pervaiz Ashraf urged the nation to support its armed forces in eliminating militancy.

“December isn’t just the month when Benazir Bhutto was assassinated,” he said. “It is also the month when militants were able to get away with the massacre of innocent children at a school in Peshawar.”

According to the former prime minister, the country will become vulnerable to all forms of assaults if the people of Pakistan do not unite against militancy. “Pakistanis need to control this fire of terror before it reaches every single home,” Ashraf said.

Scuffle

During the ceremony, a large group of party activists gathered on the stage and remained there throughout the programme. PPP’s former provincial president Syed Zahir Ali Shah, PPP women’s wing president Nighat Orakzai and other PPP leader repeatedly asked them to leave the stage, but their pleas fell on deaf ears.

The situation spiraled out of control when PPP’s K-P president Khanzada Khan was called on stage to deliver a speech. Scores of other activists and members of the party’s student wing rushed to the stage and made it difficult for Khan to speak.

As a result, a scuffle broke out between party workers. A large number of activists were thrashed and forcefully pulled down from the stage. Amid the scuffle, party workers shouted Khanzada Khan’s name but did not follow it up with ‘zindabad’.

Syed Zahir Ali Shah managed to defuse the tension and urged the workers to respect their guest Raja Pervaiz Ashraf. Eventually, Khan was able to deliver a short speech.

“Our workers are our biggest asset,” he said. “Through their support we can preserve democracy.”

Khan also criticised Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) for failing to bring change to the province.

The party’s K-P chapter has been rife with disagreement after a group of influential leaders stood up against provincial president Khanzada Khan and demanded intra-party polls. They call themselves the ‘likeminded’ faction.

In Swabi, PPP workers and activists of Peoples Students Federation (PSF) in Swabi observed Benazir’s death anniversary at the hujra of general secretary Sikandar Khan.

They paid rich tributes to the slain PPP chairperson by shouting slogans in her favour. Speaking on the occasion, Javed Iqbal, the party’s Swabi president, said Benazir’s demise had created a vacuum in the political arena which cannot be fulfilled.

“The Bhutto family has sacrificed their lives to bring democracy to our country which should be honoured,” he said. “Zulfikar Ali Bhutto gave us a nuclear bomb for Pakistan while his daughter Benazir Bhutto provided us with missile technology.”

PPP activists in Mardan also held a rally to commemorate the death anniversary of Benazir Bhutto.

The rally was taken out from Guli Bagh union council and concluded at Bagah-e-Aram. It was led by the party’s district leadership. They then addressed the participants and lauded Benazir’s contributions to safeguard democracy in Pakistan. (With additional input from our correspondents in Mardan and Swabi)

Published in The Express Tribune, December 28^th, 2014.