RAWALPINDI: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) will observe the 12th death anniversary of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto today at Liaquat Bagh, the place of her assassination, in Rawalpindi.
This is the first time the party is staging a public gathering at the same venue after Dec 27, 2007 – the day when Benazir was killed in a gun and bomb attack when she was leaving the stage after addressing an election rally.
PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari will address the jalsa for which party workers and supporters from all over Pakistan have arrived in Rawalpindi. The party has made arrangements for their stay in local hotels.
In a statement shared by PPP, Bilawal said Benazir was the “strongest chain of the federation of Pakistan” and those who assassinated her had “planned to break the chain but failed due to ‘Pakistan khappe’ slogan of President Asif Ali Zardari soon after the national tragedy”.
He said Pakistanis will never forget their “brave leader, who sacrificed everything for the country and for the rights of its downtrodden and barefoot masses”.
Ya Allah, Ya Rasool
Benazir, Bayqasoor #PindiHumPhirAaRahayHain pic.twitter.com/rCZydkydzv
— BilawalBhuttoZardari (@BBhuttoZardari) December 27, 2019
Ahead of today’s event, the venue and roads leading to it were decorated with PPP flags and pictures of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Benazir and Bilawal. More than 50,000 seats have been arranged at Liaquat Bagh.
A day earlier, the Rawalpindi bench of the Lahore High Court (LHC) directed the Deputy Commissioner Saifullah Dogar to provide all facilities and security for the event. The court also directed the district administration and police to provide Bilawal with adequate security upon his arrival in the city.
Additionally, PPP has also made its own security arrangements.
PPP had announced the rally at Liaquat Bagh. However, the district administration refused to give the party permission, citing security threats to its chairman.
PPP city president Babar Sultan Jadoon immediately filed a petition in the LHC through his legal team, challenging the decision of the district government. Yesterday, the LHC granted the party permission to hold the public meeting.
