- Today is the 52nd anniversary of the founding of the PPP
By Barrister Mian Aamir Hassan
Politics is generally termed as a science or art relating to social activity, where people form and improve the rules we all live by. Politics is the art which helps politicians attain seemingly impossible goals without violence, and political parties are institutions to serve the nation and protect its interests, both at home and abroad.
Pakistan is a federation which requires a political party to have representation in all the country’s federal units. Only Zulfikar Ali Bhutto founded a party whose contribution in nation building is palpable in all federal units. The PPP is the only political party with mass representation across the country. The party has actually tied the nation in a single chain of unity.
On 30 November 1967, the Pakistan People’s Party was founded at a time when the country was divided on ethnic lines and no single party had representation in the areas forming today’s Pakistan. Within years, the PPP had filled the gap. Since then, it has been acting as a federal political party even at the cost of its leaders’ lives. Now the nation’s interests and the party’s goals are so interwoven that you cannot damage the former without hurting the latter.
History witnesses that most of the parties in arena, nowadays, have either been founded by powers-that-be or work as their extensions. Having no genuine vote bank, these parties have to play political gimmicks to attract sub-nationalities. On the other hand, PPP not only respect the voices of such nationalities, it binds them into Pakistani nationhood. On all occasions, PPP has proved itself to be a federal party. You can find numerous voters and supporters everywhere from Khyber to Karachi. The PPP is considered the true representative of Pakistan worldwide. That’s why Shaheed Benazir Bhutto was invited to lecture at different forums across the globe.
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto presented the true picture of Pakistan in the world; Benazir Bhutto amplified his vision and, now, Chairman Bilawal Bhutto is all set to play his part. We know the PPP was created under the dynamic leadership of Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto who gave hope to the people of Pakistan already pressed under a decade-long rule of a dictator. Commemoration of Foundation Day is about uniting the people of Pakistan in general and the workers of PPP in particular, having a sense of belonging with the legacy he bequeathed to the nation.
The PPP is like the legendary phoenix. The party rises from the ashes after every effort to wipe out its existence since the rivals can kill a man, not an idea
The Foundation Day reflects the Pakistani people’s true commitment to the PPP, due to sacrifices made by its leaders and workers time and again. With sacrifices they sowed the seeds of tolerance and other democratic virtues in national politics: tolerance breeds tolerance while intolerance begets violence. The present national politics is a true example. It is the PPP that always kept its cool despite the worst kind of oppression by rivals. The slogan of ‘Pakistan Khappay’ was raised by Asif Ali Zardari at a time when the whole country was presenting the scene of lawlessness after the martyrdom of Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto. In fact, President Zardari has played the same role to get both party and country united after Benazir’s tragic martyrdom, as had once been played by Begum Nusrat Bhutto after Bhutto’s heartrending assassination. She stood firm against the tyrannical oppression of dictator Ziaul Haq and did not let the party fall apart. True to say, no other woman can claim to be of her stature as far as the sacrifices for the party and the people of Pakistan are concerned.
This day reminds us to engage with our workers while sticking to the values of the founding fathers. We are well aware that the dictators tried their best to depoliticise the society just to promote their own agendas. Thus, they hollowed out the country’s foundations. In such times, the PPP stood tall against the aggression and violence aiming at its leaders and workers. The presence of the PPP on the national political scene is evidence that it is on the true path. No lie can replace the truth or any party the PPP.
There is no party like the PPP as far as its philosophy, sacrifices and legacy go. The nation is indebted to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto who infused a new spirit in the nation and spread political awareness. It was he who gave the nation the slogan: All Powers to the People. You can find political clowns copying his style, but in vain, since it is the legacy of his family alone.
Today the air is abuzz with the slogan of change. The real change, in fact, was introduced by Bhutto who elevated the common man and allowed them to enter Parliament and other top forums. With a tweet, you cannot bring about a diplomatic miracle on the foreign policy front. Again, it was Bhutto who refused to yield before the superpower despite threats to his government and life. He dreamed to witness the ummah united, befriended China, raised the Kashmir issue worldwide, got the 90,000 POWs released and so on. This is foreign policy and the real change. Of course, PPP has set a good example of change and never used abusive language in politics as is the fashion today.
The PPP provided mature leadership to the nation in the form of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Benazir Bhutto and Bilawal Bhutto. Now the 52nd Foundation Day of the PPP is being celebrated with a pledge to revive its lost glory in coming days under the dynamic leadership of Chairman Bilawal Bhutto who is inspired by the vision of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto. He has rekindled hope among the masses through his commitment, resilience and dedication.
The visible and invisible forces have always tried to tamper with history and erase the sacrifices made by the PPP’s workers and leaders from the nation’s collective consciousness. For this, they hatch conspiracies and toil day and night, but in vain. Rivals adopt measures to damage the party’s image and malign the leadership, by following Goebbels, who said, “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.”
But they forget that Abraham Lincoln had already said,
“You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.”
The PPP is like the legendary phoenix. The party rises from the ashes after every effort to wipe out its existence since the rivals can kill a man, not an idea.
The writer is PPP Punjab Information Secretary.
