GARHI KHUDA BAKHSH, Feb 7: Thousands of People’s Party supporters converged on Garhi Khuda Bakhsh to attend the Chehlum of Benazir Bhutto on Thursday, expressing determination to carry on her mission.

In Rawalpindi, a large number of admirers, most of them women, gathered at the Liaquat Bagh, where the PPP chief was assassinated on Dec 27, sobbing their hearts out and splashing the place with petals.

The party’s local chapters organised Quran Khwani and Fateha in almost all major cities and towns.

In a speech at Garhi Khuda Bakhsh, PPP co-chairman Asif Zardari vowed to accomplish the mission of Benazir Bhutto and change “the system of exploitation”.

He said Ms Bhutto had returned to Pakistan in October with a vision of changing the system and “we will carry on her mission by following in her footsteps”.

“Today is the day of worship. Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto had done politics as worship and his daughter walked in his footsteps and sacrificed her life.”

Mr Zardari said today Benazir’s opponents and supporters were both calling her a martyr as she preferred the rough-and-tumble of popular politics to the comfort of Dubai and Bilawal House.

“We will avenge Ms Bhutto’s martyrdom in a democratic way. The time of empowerment for the poor will come and Bibi Sahiba’s mission will be accomplished. In people’s opinion Ms Bhutto has tied me to the chair, but I say she has knotted me with her grave and I am proud of it,” Mr Zardari said.

The PPP leader said he would risk death to complete Ms Bhutto’s “campaign for democracy”.

“I will go to every nook and cranny of the country to tell people about Benazir’s mission. If I succeed, you will see me alive. If I am martyred like her, you will be the ones to take my coffin to the grave.”

He announced making the event an annual feature and said if he were killed “you (people) will have to take up this job”.

Earlier, Allama Furqan Haidar Abdi offered prayers for Ms Bhutto.

Sindh PPP president Qaim Ali Shah announced that the party would resume its election campaign on Saturday by holding a public meeting in Thatta.Two scanning gates were installed at the entrance to the mausoleum, but they could not stand the thrust of supporters.

The crowd broke one of the gates and entered the mausoleum. Hundreds of of mourners filled the inner hall and showered petals on her grave.

A contingent of 600 ‘khidmatgars (volunteers) of Benazir Bhutto’, along with police, was on security duty. A bomb disposal squad combed the main tent and the mausoleum before the arrival of Mr Zardari.

Mourning songs played on the streets and stores sold CDs containing eulogies penned by local artists.

A large number of vehicles were seen stuck on the Naudero-Ratodero road as the two roads leading to Garhi Khuda Bakhsh were sealed off.

Supporters and activists, ignoring an advice of the party high command, flocked to Garhi Khuda Bakhsh to pay homage to their leader.

People in Larkana and Naudero shuttered shops. Police and Rangers patrolled the two towns.

PUNJAB: Quran Khwani and Fateha were held in different cities and towns in Punjab, Sindh, the NWFP, Balochistan and Azad Kashmir.