Zardari, Bilawal term July 5 black day in history

ISLAMABAD: Former president of Pakistan and President Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentarians Asif Ali Zardari and PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that July 5 will always be remembered as the black day in Pakistan’s history.

“The dictators perish but history never forgives them and the 5th July, 1977 remains a black blot, when a dictator ended a democratic government in a military coup, in the history of Pakistan,” said former president Asif Ali Zardari in a statement on Sunday.

Zardari said that the faces of dictators keep changing but their thinking does not change. “Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto defeated two dictators through democratic struggle and the struggle for democracy is not over yet,” he said. He said that the narrative that Parliament is supreme will surely prevail. He paid rich tribute to those who sacrificed their lives for the Constitution and democracy in Pakistan.

Zardari said that the 18th Amendment is a democratic revenge against dictators. “Undermining Parliament is revenge with democracy. The 1973 Constitution guarantees security for the federation,” he said.

In a separate statement, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said the military coup that toppled the first democratically-elected people's government, led by prime minister Shaheed Zulfikar Ali (ZA) Bhutto, by a tin-pot dictator General Zia, marked the vicious assault on the democratic aspirations of the people of Pakistan. He said that Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto had united the nation by picking up the pieces following the fall of Dhaka, and bringing together the nation in a vibrant democratic system with strong economic ambitions.

He said that as the first democratically elected prime minister, Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto oversaw the passage of the Constitution with unanimous support, laid the grounds for Pakistan’s macro-economic foundations, gave the right of citizenship and passports to every Pakistani, and set the country on the road to becoming a nuclear power. “Prime Minister Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto also empowered the people by democratising the state, taking power from the select few, and passing it to the people,” he added.

Bilawal said that the 1977 martial law was the worst-ever attack on the people of Pakistan, and its pall continues to haunt this nation decades after the dictators demise. “The coup of 5th July, 1977 sowed and watered the seeds of intolerance, extremism and terrorism, allowing their roots to grow and embed themselves across our society, plaguing us till this day,” he added.

He pointed out that prime minister Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto united the Muslim Ummah and led the Islamic world with foresight and political sagacity. He faced and challenged two dictators, and bravely fought the battle for the people’s rights, never once wavering, even when faced by the gallows. “His supporters and followers were subjected to inhuman torture including lashes, solitary confinement, imprisonment and hanging,” he added.

“Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto said, ‘Either power must pass to the people, or everything will perish’, words that remain as true as we fight for Pakistan’s democratic survival today. It is a truth that is at the core of every democratic Pakistani, and it is why Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto lives on, while his tormenters have been condemned to the dustbin of history,” he added. The PPP chairman paid glowing tributes to Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto for laying down his life instead of compromising on the rights of the people as well as the country.