ISLAMABAD
\nForeign Minister and Pakistan People\u2019s Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari Tuesday termed July 5, 1977 the blackest day in the national history, stating: \u201cAbout 45 years ago, the government of the first elected prime minister of Pakistan Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto collapsed at the hands of the history\u2019s worst dictator on this day.\u201d
\n\u201cThe dictatorial reign of General Ziaul Haq is the mother of extremism and the Kalashnikov and heroin culture in Pakistan,\u201d the PPP chairman said in a tweet.
\n\u201cThe political, economic and social ills that Pakistan has been facing till date, all their links date back to the dark era of General Zia. He poisoned the political and social life of Pakistan through sectarianism and hatred on the basis of language,\u201d he deplored.
\n\u201cDictator Zia narrowed the land for the people and the political parties that believed in democracy and federation. A stage for judicial assassination was prepared to remove Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto from the political scene,\u201d Bilawal censured.
\n\u201cDictator Ziaul Haq put the PPP leadership and workers in jails. They were flogged and forced into exile. The people of Pakistan resolutely opposed General Zia and his dictatorial regime,\u201d he stated.
\n\u201cThe people of Pakistan are still fighting against the thought and remnants of dictator Zia. I salute Shaheed Benazir Bhutto, Begum Nusrat Bhutto, and all the political activists who took part in the Movement for the Restoration of Democracy (MRD),\u201d he commended.
\n\u201cDuring the Movement for the Restoration of Democracy, the people not only worked tirelessly for the restoration of democracy in the country but also rendered unprecedented sacrifices,\u201d he pointed out.
\n\u201cThe PPP will continue playing the role of the protector of the Constitution, democracy and parliamentary supremacy in the country,\u201d he vowed. \u201cThe PPP is the flag-bearer party of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah\u2019s ideology and vision,\u201d he claimed.
\nFormer president and PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari also paid homage to Nusrat Bhutto, Benazir Bhutto and all the journalists, students, labourers and political activists who faced torture and rendered sacrifices for 1973 Constitution and the restoration of democracy.
\nHe said that the PPP had always steered the country out of the crises, adding: \u201cWhenever the constitution and democracy have been attacked, the leadership and workers of the PPP have fully defended the constitution and democracy.\u201d
\nHe stated that the PPP leadership faced hardships and took difficult decisions for the country and the people. \u201cToday, the country and the people are once again moving in the right direction out of difficulties,\u201d he pointed out.
\n\u201cAll the democratic forces of the country must come together and work for the betterment of the lives of the people by taking decisions through consensus,\u201d he stressed. \u201cDemocracy has never been a gift to us. For the sake of democracy, the PPP \u2018Jiyalas\u2019 have also accepted the gallows.
\nThe \u2018Jiyalas\u2019 have also crossed the landmines and won the democracy by sacrificing their lives,\u201d he commended. \u201cIt is very encouraging that the entire nation believes in the 1973 Constitution. It is the fruit of the great struggle of the PPP leadership and workers,\u201d he pointed out.
\n\u201cToday, we are renewing the pledge to make the country a welfare state by strengthening democracy in accordance with the ideas of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto,\u201d he vowed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ISLAMABAD Foreign Minister and Pakistan People\u2019s Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari Tuesday termed July 5, 1977 the blackest day in the national history, stating: \u201cAbout 45 years ago, the government of the first elected prime minister of Pakistan Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto collapsed at the hands of the history\u2019s worst dictator on this day.\u201d \u201cThe […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":262806,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[555,9357,364],"class_list":{"0":"post-269935","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-top-news","8":"tag-bilawal-bhutto-zardari","9":"tag-national-history","10":"tag-ppp"},"yoast_head":"\n