GARHI KHUDA BAKHSH (Larkana), Dec 27: A number of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leaders, including the prime ministers of Pakistan and Azad Jammu & Kashmir, federal ministers, chief ministers of Sindh and Gilgit-Baltistan, provincial ministers, lawmakers and holders of various party offices, on Thursday spoke to the media after the public meeting held here on Thursday on the occasion of Benazir Bhutto’s fifth death anniversary.

They offered their lives and any other sacrifice to protect democracy and the country for the rights of people and progress of the nation.

Azad Jammu and Kashmir Prime Minister Chaudhry Abdul Majid lauded the achievements of the PPP in its current tenure and said the party always raised its voice for the rights of the people of all provinces and Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Qamar Zaman Kaira described PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari’s speech at the mammoth gathering ‘historic’ and said the party cadre pledged to continue the mission started by party founder Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and carried forward by Benazir Bhutto.

He said the young party chairman gave the terrorists and extremists a clear message that the party would continue its fight against that mindset. He noted that public participation in the event was also historic.

Mr Kaira said that Mr Bhutto-Zardari urged the superior courts to take up the reference on the judicial murder of his grandfather, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, and expedite the trial of those involved in the assassination of his mother, Benazir Bhutto.

Federal Minister of Political Affairs Maula Bakhsh Chandio said the PPP was the real custodian of the rights of the masses. The party would continue to promote democratic values in the country, he added.

Gilgit-Baltistan Chief Minister Syed Mehdi Shah said the PPP had strong roots across the country.

Federal Minister for Kashmir Affairs Mian Manzoor Ahmed Wattoo said that Benazir Bhutto, shrugging off serious threats to her life, adopted a difficult way to democracy which reflected her commitment to the federation and rights of the masses. He predicted that the PPP would make its government in Punjab after the upcoming general elections.

Makhdoom Shahabuddin said it was due to the sacrifices offered by the great PPP leaders that the party still enjoyed support of the masses.

Former Federal Minister Raza Rabbani said the PPP chairman had given the message of a peaceful democratic revolution in the country as heralded by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa PPP president Anwar Saifullah said the young party chief was capable of carrying forward the ideology of Z.A. Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto.

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah said top PPP leaders sacrificed their lives to safeguard the rights of the ordinary people of the country and to strengthen democracy.

“Every party leader and worker is ready to follow in the footsteps of Z.A. Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto,” he said.

Former Federal Minister Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan said that devoted workers and pro-democracy supporters would help the PPP retain power in the next general elections. “The PPP is the only party that can save the country amid threats of extremism and terrorism being faced by the country,” he added.

PPP Secretary General Senator Jehangir Badar said that Benazir Bhutto had established social justice according to the vision of Z.A. Bhutto.

PPP Vice Chairman and former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani described Benazir Bhutto as a visionary leader who knew that the real threat to democracy was terrorism. “She, like her father, lives in the hearts of people,” he remarked and eulogised her vision, thinking and philosophy.

Federal Commerce Minister Makhdoom Amin Fahim said Benazir Bhutto was not only a politician but a great mother and a great sister. “She remains in the hearts of the masses because she fought for the rights of ordinary people and democracy till she breathed her last,” he noted.—APP