KARACHI: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) supporters gathered at Liaquat Bagh in Rawalpindi on Friday, where the country’s former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto, was assassinated 12 years ago.
For years, the PPP has been observing Benazir’s death anniversary in Garhi Khuda Bakhsh, a town in Sindh where she is buried in the family grave. This year, for the first time, the party held a public gathering in Liaquat Bagh.
Benazir, who took oath as the first female prime minister of Pakistan on Dec. 2, 1988, was the first woman to lead a Muslim state. She served as the country’s prime minister again in 1993-96. Born on June 21, 1953, in Karachi, Benazir was the eldest child of PPP founder Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Pakistan’s ninth prime minister.
Benazir’s son, PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari spoke to thousands of the PPP supporters who came from all over the country to attend the mourning ceremony.
“She fought with three dictators, she faced extremists and terrorists,” Bilawal said. “They said a woman couldn’t become prime minister but she became the first prime minister of the Muslim ummah.”
He said his mother returned to Pakistan in 2007, after years in exile, to free the masses from dictators.
In reference to the present situation, Bilawal said that “although terrorism has been controlled, the fire of extremism has spread all over the country and people from across Pakistan are protesting for their rights.” He added that the parliament had lost its worth, media was controlled and the rights of provinces had been curtailed.
He said he will complete his mother’s mission and bring economic justice to the country.
