Bhutto continues to influence followers and foes alike, says Ghani

Sindh Local Government Minister Saeed Ghani on Sunday said Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto continues to influence the minds of both his followers and foes alike after so many years since his martyrdom.

Ghani, who is also the Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) Karachi president, said this while speaking at an event held by the PPP’s District East chapter to mark the birthday of party founder and former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.

The LG minister recalled that Bhutto had become a member of the cabinet at the young age of 30. He told the audience that Bhutto had also served the country well in his capacity as the science & technology minister.

He said Bhutto’s entire political career, spanning 21 years, was full of exemplary achievements. He recalled that on April 26, 1945, at the age of 17, Bhutto had written a letter to Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah to praise his struggle for the unity of Muslims of the Indian subcontinent.

Ghani said that in his letter, Bhutto informed Jinnah that as a student, he was unable to play his role in securing a separate homeland for Muslims in the Indian subcontinent, but in later life, he would not hesitate to sacrifice his life for Pakistan.

The minister said the Father of the Nation had responded to Bhutto on May 1, 1945, and praised Bhutto’s interest in politics and wished him well for success in his practical life.

Ghani recalled that Bhutto had served in the federal cabinet from 1958 to 1966. He mentioned that Bhutto had founded the PPP when he was 30, and his party had secured an unprecedented landslide victory in the general elections in West Pakistan after merely three to four years of the party’s forming.

He said the recording of the interview with Bhutto is still being broadcast, containing the resolve of the former PM that he and his children would not hesitate to sacrifice their lives for the country.

In the same interview, Bhutto mentioned his three children — Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, Murtaza Bhutto and Shahnawaz Bhutto — who later laid down their lives for the country, he added.

The minister said the PPP founder would surely be in heaven owing to his innumerable services to the country. He said Shaheed Benazir Bhutto and Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto were the dear leaders of millions of Pakistanis.