Message of President of Pakistan and Co-Chairman PPP On Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto’s 57 birthday: June 21, 2010

Today on the eve of the 57th birthday of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto I ask the Party workers to reiterate their commitment to the values she stood and fought for and when the time came even laid down her life for it.

She fought courageously against the militants and extremists bent upon forcing their ideological agenda on the people through brute force. As he shed her blood in this fight I ask the Party workers to donate blood on this day for our soldiers, policemen and the civilian population whose also have shed their blood for making Pakistan a country of moderation and pluralism where ballot and not bullet will determine the ultimate choice of the people.
On her birthday let us recall the advice she gave to the people a few weeks before her assassination: “Please continue the fight against extremism, dictatorship, poverty and ignorance”. It was not a mere slogan; she acted upon it herself by leading the fight from the front.
Let us celebrate the life of Shaheed Mohtarma by proclaiming once again that we will neither suffer a destiny thrust upon us by bigots and brigands nor allow militants and extremists to destroy our country and our way of life in the name of religion.
The two cherished dreams of Shaheed Mohtarma were; democratic plurality and emancipation of the downtrodden and marginalized sections of society. On this occasion I wish to reiterate that the PPP will continue its forward march to strengthen democracy and for the uplift of the marginalized as envisioned by her. We will not be deterred by conspiracies against it or by the hurdles created in our way. Let there be no doubt or mistake about it.
The Party survived even the judicial murder of its founder Chairman and the country’s first directly elected Prime Minister Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the exile and subsequent assassination of its second Chairperson Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto and the plethora of accusations and witch hunting of its leaders and workers. It will continue to defy odds and grow from strength to strength.
On this occasion, let us also remember all our martyrs. Our brave soldiers and members of law enforcing agencies have laid down their lives so that the nation lives in freedom and without fear. The martyrs of democracy have suffered incarceration, exile, torture and executions. We salute them all on this day.

Asif Ali Zardari