PESHAWAR
Pakistan Peoples Party leaders on Saturday marked July 5 as a “black day” in the country’s history and announced plans to launch a protest movement against the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa over inflation, insecurity and “loot and plunder.”
Speaking at a seminar organised by PPP workers at the Peshawar Press Club (PPC) to observe the anniversary of the 1977 martial law, former provincial PPP president and ex-health minister Syed Zahir Ali Shah said history was witness that those who tried to erase the name of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto had themselves been erased from it.
“July 5 is the darkest day when democracy was overturned and martial law was imposed, and Quaid-i-Awam Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was imprisoned,” he said.
“But history has kept Shaheed Bhutto alive, while the dictator was wiped out forever.”
Mr Shah said the people of KP had been observing a “black day every day” for the last 13 years due to inflation, lawlessness and corruption under the PTI government.
“The provincial government has forgotten the 40 million people of the province and is busy fighting for the release of one political prisoner,” he alleged, adding that the PPP would soon launch a protest movement with its workers against the “failed government.”
He criticised the PTI administration for being in constant confrontation with the Centre, saying it had deprived the province of gas, electricity and flour. “Keep your political fights political. Don’t fight in a way that the people of the province are left craving for gas, electricity and flour,” he said.
PPP veteran Syed Fayaz Ali Shah, who recently rejoined the party, said Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari carried the image of Benazir Bhutto and was committed to taking the party forward on the path shown by Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. He pledged to strengthen the party in Peshawar city with the support of the central leadership and workers.
Former city general secretary Zulfiqar Awan said anyone who harmed “Shaheed Baba’s party” had perished, and vowed to continue Bhutto’s mission at all costs.
“On July 5 we observe a black day, but we must remember that dictators had PPP workers lashed in open grounds and jailed. Today, no one even remembers their names,” he said.
Other PPP leaders, including Malik Masil Khan, Tala Muhammad Khan, Muzammil Khan and Kifayatullah Khan Orakzai, expressed concern over the party’s organisational state ahead of the upcoming local government elections.
They alleged that the “so-called” PPP cabinet was sitting in the Governor House and hatching conspiracies instead of building the party.
“There is no organisation at the district or provincial level. A committee formed by the central leadership six months ago has not even submitted its report,” they said.
The leaders accused “opportunists” of joining the PPP for personal gains and turning the Governor House into a “picnic spot.”
They urged the central leadership to immediately dissolve the caretaker setup in KP and announce party organisations at the provincial and district levels to bring “true jiyalas” to the forefront.
The seminar was attended by a large number of PPP workers who chanted slogans in favour of the Bhutto family and against the PTI government.
