LAHORE: Speakers at a seminar, Life of a Political Worker, paid tributes to the late Farkhanda Bokhari, a PPP worker who faced imprisonment and exile during the dictatorship of Gen Zia.

Speakers, hailing from different parties, praised political activists in general and their struggle, calling a political worker not merely an individual but an institution.

The seminar was organised by the Farkhanda and Shohrat Bokhari Welfare Society at the Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHCBA) on Saturday.

Former Senator Farhatullah Babar said the dictatorship greatly harmed Pakistan, recalling that when a plane was hijacked, the leaders of the PPP were blamed for it and Farkhanda was also imprisoned under the same accusation. He said Farkhanda made a genuine struggle for the country and the party by raising a voice against the army’s oppression during Gen Zia’s era.

The PPP leader said the activists of another political party also fought a political battle recently. He termed the efforts of activists from any party commendable.

PTI MNA Sardar Latif Khosa said there had been great people who struggled for the country yet those who served the nation were dubbed as traitors. He expressed regrets that people’s right to vote had also been taken away in the country.

Khosa, who is a former stalwart of the PPP, recalled the political struggle of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto against the military dictators like Gen Ziaul Haq.

LHCBA former vice president Rabbiya Bajwa lamented that all political parties had forgotten their ideological workers. She noted that depoliticisation of the country began during the Gen Zia era and stressed that all political parties should value their ideological workers.

PML-N former MNA Naseer Ahmad Bhutta, PPP leader Faisal Mir, Dr Khalid Mahmood Jan and Dr Akbar Hussain also spoke.

Published in Dawn, October 27th, 2024