| I ask Justice Chaudhry what happened to BB murder case: President Zardari |
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Addressing a huge gathering at the mausoleum of Benazir Bhutto, the president vowed to defend the constitution and would not allow anyone to damage the federation. “We will fight for democracy as we do not fight for seats,” he said. The president said only real democracy could deliver and pointed that attempts were being made to introduce “tailor-made democracies” and added that those who were now jumping fences do not have any significant achievements to their credit. “We will fight any evil eye that is a threat to the federation, but our way will be that of Aung San Suu Kyi,” the president referred to the Myanmar leader, known the world over for her struggle for democracy. He said he would never let his people fight or sacrifice for his sake. The president said all his steps would be under the constitution that was restored during his stint in power. He mentioned that the case of Benazir Bhutto is still pending with the courts and regretted that other cases were getting the attention, while important ones were pending. “People ask what happened to Benazir Bhutto’s case,” he said. “I ask (chief justice) Iftikhar Chaudhry: what happened to Benazir Bhutto’s case.” Wearing a Sindhi cap, a beaming president told an emotionally charged crowd that he was son of the soil and could feel the pain of this land. Let’s foil ‘conspiracies’ against democracy, he said. Zardari said Pakistan had decided not to be part of any international war game. “We have decided not to join any ‘theatre of war’ which has nothing to do with us,” he said and added that rather trade would be the top priority with international community. He categorically said that Pakistan would enter into trade pacts with other countries of its choice, and not on the behest of any other country. President Zardari said all forces were under parliament, saying he always listened to the prime minister because he represented the federation and was a representative of the people through parliament. He said he decided to hand over all powers to the prime minister, as he wanted the democracy to nurture. He asked the people and the party workers to remain steadfast and not to be deterred by temporary challenges. “Is this to derail real democracy, or an attempt to bring in some dictator,” he asked. “Democracy can deliver and will deliver,” he said, adding that “how much time has been given to the nascent democracy. It will take time for it to flourish.” He paid rich tributes to Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani for remaining steadfast and said he stood by him. He said that though protocol wise, Gilani reported to him, but in fact, the prime minister was the leader of all. “You would not find Gilani stumble at any stage,” the president said. President Zardari said four personalities of the Bhutto family had sacrificed their precious lives that made him able to stand at Garhi Khuda Bakhsh and face this mammoth crowd. He said his young daughter, Aseefa Bhutto, would be the flag bearer and start her journey right from the place where it was dropped by her slain mother in Rawalpindi, to carry on the family tradition of serving the people of Pakistan. The president said the PPP was not a party of inheritance, but regretted that the country had no leader after the death of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. President Zardari Asif Ali Zardari said he had always said that he talks of history and not to merely make headlines. “Politics is art of the possible, but making a nation is the art of impossible and what I am doing is the art of impossible.” The president said in the same context, he gave an identity to the Pashtuns and no one could take back that identity for centuries to come. The president said that he wanted to help the people of Balochistan and end their problems, but added it would have to be done within the framework of the federation. “We have spent years in jails,” he said and mentioned to six years imprisonment of the prime minister and 12 years of his own imprisonment. He asked the Baloch to fight the way he himself fights and referred to his life long struggle. The president said that he would do all for the Baloch but stressed that it would only be done while remaining under the federation. The president also favoured a separate province in southern Punjab and said, “The people seek their rights from the Punjab’s rulers.” app |
Dec 29, 2011: GARHI KHUDA BAKHSH: President Asif Ali Zardari on Tuesday used the fourth anniversary of his wife Benazir Bhutto’s assassination to urge the country to foil “conspiracies against democracy.”