PESHAWAR
\nPakistan Peoples Party leaders on Saturday marked July 5 as a \u201cblack day\u201d in the country\u2019s history and announced plans to launch a protest movement against the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa over inflation, insecurity and \u201cloot and plunder.\u201d
\nSpeaking 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.
\n\u201cJuly 5 is the darkest day when democracy was overturned and martial law was imposed, and Quaid-i-Awam Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was imprisoned,\u201d he said.
\n\u201cBut history has kept Shaheed Bhutto alive, while the dictator was wiped out forever.\u201d
\nMr Shah said the people of KP had been observing a \u201cblack day every day\u201d for the last 13 years due to inflation, lawlessness and corruption under the PTI government.
\n\u201cThe provincial government has forgotten the 40 million people of the province and is busy fighting for the release of one political prisoner,\u201d he alleged, adding that the PPP would soon launch a protest movement with its workers against the \u201cfailed government.\u201d
\nHe criticised the PTI administration for being in constant confrontation with the Centre, saying it had deprived the province of gas, electricity and flour. \u201cKeep your political fights political. Don\u2019t fight in a way that the people of the province are left craving for gas, electricity and flour,\u201d he said.
\nPPP 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.
\nFormer city general secretary Zulfiqar Awan said anyone who harmed \u201cShaheed Baba\u2019s party\u201d had perished, and vowed to continue Bhutto\u2019s mission at all costs.
\n\u201cOn 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,\u201d he said.
\nOther PPP leaders, including Malik Masil Khan, Tala Muhammad Khan, Muzammil Khan and Kifayatullah Khan Orakzai, expressed concern over the party\u2019s organisational state ahead of the upcoming local government elections.
\nThey alleged that the \u201cso-called\u201d PPP cabinet was sitting in the Governor House and hatching conspiracies instead of building the party.
\n\u201cThere 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,\u201d they said.
\nThe leaders accused \u201copportunists\u201d of joining the PPP for personal gains and turning the Governor House into a \u201cpicnic spot.\u201d
\nThey urged the central leadership to immediately dissolve the caretaker setup in KP and announce party organisations at the provincial and district levels to bring \u201ctrue jiyalas\u201d to the forefront.
\nThe seminar was attended by a large number of PPP workers who chanted slogans in favour of the Bhutto family and against the PTI government.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
PESHAWAR Pakistan Peoples Party leaders on Saturday marked July 5 as a \u201cblack day\u201d in the country\u2019s history and announced plans to launch a protest movement against the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa over inflation, insecurity and \u201cloot and plunder.\u201d Speaking at a seminar organised by PPP workers at the Peshawar Press Club […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":554732,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-554717","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-peshawar"],"yoast_head":"\n