KARACHI: Terming July 5, 1977 a black day in the country’s history, the Sindh Assembly on Tuesday passed a unanimous resolution to condemn General Ziaul Haq’s military coup amid lack of interest among lawmakers from both sides of the aisle.

The deserted house echoed with severe condemnation of the military dictator and rich tributes to former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto as the entire business of the private members’ day on the agenda was suspended by Deputy Speaker Rehana Leghari before she allowed the Pakistan Peoples Party’s Heer Soho to present a resolution to condemn the coup on July 5, 1977.

The resolution was also supported by the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan and Grand Democratic Alliance.

Members belonging to the Tehreek Labbaik Pakistan and Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal did not appear in the house.

Lawmakers pay rich tributes to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto

Only 20 treasury members and 13 opposition members, most of them belonging to the MQM-P, were present in the house that started proceeding with a delay of one hour and 20 minutes.

Power supply to the assembly was suspended at the start of proceedings, but it was immediately restored through the standby generators. This followed the leakage of water from the roof of the house and criticism by the opposition members, who said that water was oozing from the roof of the building which was erected with millions of rupees.

As the opposition members continued to protest over drops of water in the house, the deputy speaker assured them that she would direct the assembly secretary to resolve this problem.

The treasury member’s resolution said: “This House condemns the incidents that occurred on 5th July, 1977 which ultimately led to the termination of democratically elected people’s government of Shaheed Zulfikiar Ali Bhutto. This fateful day is a blot on the history of democracy in Pakistan as it marked the most brutal show of the suspension of constitution, the democratic process and political stability in the country.”

It added that Gen Zia ul Haq’s subsequent capture of power plunged the country into the dark era of crackdowns against dissent, political victimization, erosion of political culture in the country.

The resolution added that the history bore ample testimony to the fact that this day entirely changed the direction of the state and society from a tolerant, plural and accommodative to an intolerant and polarised one. “This day shall continue to be regarded as the black day in the history of democratic struggle in the country,” it added.

The house also resolved to strive for strengthening of democracy and rule of law in the country, for the consolidation of democratic norms, political culture and civil liberties for the coming generations.

Speaking on the occasion, Senior PPP member and former chief minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah said that Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was a public leader who opted to live amongst the people. “He was a public figure who would be remembered for centuries,” he added.

Referring to criticism on Bhutto for being first Civil Martial Law Administrator, Mr Shah said that at the time there was no constitution in the country and he had to take charge to fill constitutional vacuum in the country. “Bhutto Sahib did not want martial law even for a day,” he added.

He also lauded former president Asif Ali Zardari for “accomplishing Bhutto’s constitution” through 18th Amendment. “He was the voice of peasants, labourers, students and oppressed classes.”

GDA’s Nusrat Saher Abbasi paid rich tributes to Bhutto and said he was not the leader of PPP, but of the whole country.

Arif Mustafa Jatoi of the GDA said that the PPP founder was a man of integrity. “Not a single corruption case surfaced against him after his removal,” he said and added that today the almost all members of the provincial cabinet were facing corruption charges. “If you really have respect and love for Shaheed Bhutto, you must follow him,” he advised the PPP members.

Education Minister Syed Sardar Shah in his speech said every democratic party in the country must observe a black day on July 5.

PPP’s Heer Soho, Hina Dastagir, Information Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon, Shamim Mumtaz and Sadia Javed, and MQM-P’s Mangla Sharma and PTI’s Firdous Shamim Naqvi also spoke on the resolution.

Later, the house was adjourned to July 15.

Published in Dawn, July 6th, 2022