KARACHI: Chairman Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has termed the July 5, 1977 as a black day in the nation’s history.
This day marks when General Zia-ul-Haq seized power by overthrowing the democratically-elected government of PPP founder and Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto on 5 July 1977, by declaring martial law and appointing himself as Chief Martial Law Administrator.
“5th July 1977 marks the beginning of the darkest chapter in Pakistans history. The seeds of division that were sown that day are still bearing the fruit of hatred today. Let us bury the legacy of dictators by rejecting the politics of division and hate,” he said in statement on Twitter.
In a statement on the occasion, the PPP chairperson said the day will continue to remind us how a “power-hungry dictator pushed the entire nation into the mire of extremism, terrorism, Kalashnikov and drug culture under the guise of religion, from which even after 46 years, we still could not get rid of them completely”.
The Chairman PPP further said in dictator Zia is a culprit of the Constitution of Pakistan and the Pakistani nation. He said that the civil and human rights violated during the dictatorship of General Zia and atrocities committed ashame humanity.
5th July 1977 marks the beginning of the darkest chapter in Pakistans history. The seeds of division that were sown that day are still bearing the fruit of hatred today. Let us bury the legacy of dictators by rejecting the politics of division and hate. #5thJulyBlackDay pic.twitter.com/gTaCI4ac89
— BilawalBhuttoZardari (@BBhuttoZardari) July 5, 2023
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that the nation is well aware of the fact that a handful of people who follow dictator Zia’s thinking are still busy in making conspiracies against the people’s right to rule in their hunger for power, but failure is their destiny.
“The era of dictators and puppets has become a thing of the past. Now there is only democracy in the present and future of Pakistan,” he added.
Bilawal saluted the party workers who were flogged, endured the hardships of imprisonment and embraced martyrdom for the sake of democracy during the Zia regime.
He vowed that his party will continue struggling to fulfill the mission of safeguarding the Constitution and parliamentary system of democracy and establish a society based on equality envisioned by Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto.
