LARKANA: The 44th death anniversary of Pakistan Peoples Party’s founder chairman and former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who was sentenced to death in a murder case and executed on April 4, 1979, was observed across Sindh, like all other parts of the country, with simplicity on Tuesday.

The PPP had already announced that the death anniversary programmes this year would be held at district level throughout the country due to Ramazan and that the public meeting, traditionally held at Bhuttos’ mausoleum in Garhi Khuda Bakhsh Bhutto on the occasion, would also not be held on Tuesday.

PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari convened a meeting of relatives and selected party leaders in his Naudero House to observe the day.

A number of PPP MNAs, MPAs, leaders of divisional and district chapters, former lawmakers and prominent figures, however, visited the mausoleum to lay wreaths on the graves of Bhutto family members and offer fateha. A Qaran Khwani was also held at the mausoleum.

CM Murad Ali Shah tells media only ECP has authority to fix dates for elections, no one else can exercise its powers

Prominent among those who visited the mausoleum included

MNAs Khursheed Junejo and Naseeban Channa, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, provincial Excise Minister Mukesh Kumar Chawla, Aijaz Leghari, Sassui Palijo, Imtiaz Shaikh, Mansoor Soomro and Nisar Bhutto.

PPP-Shaheed Bhutto leaders and activists including Zubair Jatoi, Ghulam Haidar Narejo, Saleem Channa and Waryam Channa also visited the mausoleum to lay wreaths on the graves and pay homage to the executed party chairman.

Speaking to the media in Garhi Khuda Bakhsh Bhutto, CM Syed Murad Ali Shah drew resemblance of the Supreme Court verdict on Punjab Assembly election given earlier in the day with that of the case against Z.A. Bhutto. He said all relevant institutions, under the situation obtaining in the country, had opined that the elections for the Punjab and KP assemblies could not be held [this month or in the next few months].

Mr Shah believed the federal government in consultation with Constitution experts would now decide its strategy in this regard.

Referring to the SC verdict that fixed May 14 as the date for the Punjab election, he pointed out that the mandate of the incumbent [Punjab] caretaker government would end on April 14 and the question of a legitimate dispensation to rule over Punjab in the next one month remained unanswered. This constitutional issue that was going to cause a complex situation must be looked into, he said.

He wondered if the apex court itself would go against the Constitution. He asserted that the Election Commission of Pakistan was also a constitutional body empowered to conduct elections, and expressed his view that the ECP had earlier announced a date [Oct 8, 2023] after taking all aspects into consideration.

“We can comment on SC verdicts while remaining within the constitutional limits, he said in reply to a question.

The CM said that it was only the ECP which had the authority to decide a date for an election and no one else could use its authority.

Mr Shah said that the legislation on suo motu and other related issues had already been made by the National Assembly and approved by Senate and was now pending only assent of the president.

He expressed the hope that the president would also give his assent in due course of time.

Pakistan Peoples Party’s divisional and district office-bearers held Quran Khuwani and gatherings of workers and supporters at their respective offices in Hyderabad, Sukkur, Mirpurkhas, Badin, Sanghar, Tharparkar, Umerkot, Qambar-Shahdadkot, Jacobabad, Shikarpur, Kan-dhkot-Kashmore, Ghotki and other districts to pay homage to their party’s founder chairman.

In Karachi, the gatherings were attended by provincial ministers, special assistants and advisers to the CM, office-bearers of PPP’s divisional and district chapters as well as workers and supporters in large numbers, a statement issued by the party said.

It said that the country was at a juncture where only the legacy of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and his political vision could save it from a host of crises being faced by the country. “Only this party, of a leader who gave Pakistan a Constitution, can save the country from the prevailing constitutional crises,” it quoted Sindh government spokesman and adviser to the CM on Law Barrister Murtaza Wahab as saying.

In Hyderabad, Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon addressed a gathering of local PPP leaders, workers and supporters at his residence in Tandojam to pay homage to Z.A. Bhutto.

He also pointed out that the entire nation was looking at the apex court for justice in Bhutto’s judicial murder for which Asif Ali Zardari, during his tenure as the head of state, had sent a reference. The long-pending hearing of the reference had left a question mark on the judiciary, he added.

He said the verdict in Bhutto’s case was a black chapter in the country’s history and even after 44 years, members of the Bhutto family and the masses still wanted to know the expediencies that had been restraining the judiciary from hearing the reference.

Speaking at a gathering in Sukkur, veteran PPP leader and a former leader of the opposition in the National Assembly Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah paid homage to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.

Later, talking to the media, he referred to the SC verdict on Punjab Assembly election, and remarked: “Today is the blackest day in the country’s history … people have seen the fate of all those who had conspired against Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto”.

He regretted that all institutions, be it the establishment, judiciary or media, tarnished their own image by their attitude or incompetence with the result that people had started disbelieving their narratives. “All of them are concealing truth,” he observed.

MNA Nouman Islam Sheikh, Syed Owais Qadir Shah and Farrukh Shah were among the other leaders who attended the programme.

In Jacobabad, Adviser to the CM on Prisons Mir Aijaz Ahmed Jakhrani, spoke to a similar programme and highlighted achievements of Z.A. Bhutto and his government.

Published in Dawn, April 5rd, 2023