...
| PPP protests against burning of Benazir, Zardari portraits |
 |
|
|
| Friday, February 27, 2009 By By our correspondent |
| HYDERABAD: Activists of the ruling Pakistan Peopleís Party (PPP) on Thursday took out rallies and staged demonstrations against the burning and disgracing of portraits of Benazir Bhutto and Asif Ali Zardari in the Punjab cities. Activists of the Sindh Peopleís Youth took out a rally, led by divisional president Ahsan Abro and others, with activists chanting slogans against the workers of the PML-N. Another protest rally was brought to the Hyderabad Press Club, which was led by provincial minister Zahid Bhurguri, Amanullah Siyal, Aftab Khanzada and others. The protesters were carrying placards inscribed with slogans against the PML-N workers and demanding President Zardari to take action against those involved in damaging the portraits of the slain chairperson. The protesters also set on fire the effigy of PML-N Quaid Nawaz Sharif. They said protesting against the decision of the apex court was the right of the PML-N but damaging the portraits of Benazir Bhutto and Asif Zardari had hurt the sentiments of millions of supporters of the PPP. Large contingents of police and Rangers were deployed to prevent violence as the PML-N workers were staging a demonstration at the press club when the PPP workers arrived. Our Khairpur correspondent adds: The students wing of the PPP protested against the destruction of the monument of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto in Rawalpindi by the PML-N workers. The students of the Shah Abdul Latif University staged a demonstration and alleged that the PML-N was instigating the PPP workers but said the PPP was a party of democratic personalities. They said the Supreme Court had announced the disqualification decision on merit. However, they said, the PML-N was accusing President Asif Ali Zardari for the verdict. The tone of the Sharif brothers towards the president of Pakistan was intolerable, they said. They said if the Sharifs did not change their tone of criticism, then they will react. The PPP women wing protested against the disfiguring of portraits of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto. The women workers said the PPPP will not tolerate such acts of the PML-N. Our Naushahro Feroze correspondent adds: Hundreds of activists of the PPP staged a protest and a sit-in outside the local press club against the disfiguring of portraits of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto in Rawalpindi and other cities of the Punjab. The rally started from the PPP district office and went round the entire city before terminating at the local press club. The rally was led by Sadruddin Ujan, president PPP Lawyers Forum, Ubaidullah Rajpar, Shahnaz Ansar, district president PPP Women Wing, Bakhtawar Vistro and others. The protesters raised slogans against the PML-N and the Chaudhry brothers. Speaking to a large gathering, the local leaders said Benazir Bhutto had sacrificed her life for democracy in Pakistan and its masses. (The News) |
PML-N workers attack PPP office, Benazir memorial
Staff Report
RAWALPINDI: Dozens of PML-N workers on Thursday pelted a PPP office and a memorial of Benazir Bhutto on Liaquat Road with stones during a demonstration against the disqualification of their leaders Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif from contesting election. They also destroyed PPP hoardings and banners carrying pictures of Benazir Bhutto in the vicinity. There followed exchange of hot words and scuffle between the PML-N and the PPP workers. However, the police’s intervention led the mob’s peaceful dispersal. No damage to public life was reported. The PPP workers later turned up in front of the memorial and stayed put till night. They erected a large portrait of Benazir Bhutto at the site, lit candles and laid floral wreath there. PPP Central Executive Committee’s member Sultan Mehmood Qazi, PPP, Rawalpindi City, President Aamir Fida Paracha, Nargas Fayyaz Malik and other leaders visited the place. They announced an FIR would be lodged with police against the Benazir’s memorial and PPP office attackers.
FIR registered: According to APP, on the directive of higher authorities, the City Police Station on Thursday registered an FIR against 60 unidentified Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) workers allegedly involved in burning of Benazir Bhutto Shaheed’s monument at Liaquat Bagh.
PPP workers protest: A few dozen PPP workers on Thursday protested at Zero Point against the PML-N activists’ attack on a memorial of Benazir Bhutto outside Liaquat Bagh in Rawalpindi. They said the memorial attack was an attack on democracy. They said the PPP believed in peace and democratic process. (Daily Times)
4 comments:
In Kerbala , when the ashqia had killed every one , Hussein, his sons, his companions even small children , they gathered their bodies and trampled them under feet of their horses. The question arises why?. They were enemies of Hussein, so they killed him. Why were they doing this to dead bodies?
Lets go further, when Abbasid tyrants ruled Baghdad, they asked their armies to plough the whole "ganj e Shuda" , the grave yard of Kerbala. Haroon Rashid ordered cutting of the tree which marked Hussein's grave.
One asks what animosity they had with graves. When Saudi Kharjites took over Arabia , they demolished graveyard of Jannat-ul-Baqi in Madina
The reason for this mentality is the "fear of myth". They know that their animosity is not towards that person who they are killing but with an idea which that person symbolizes.
In Pakistan what the fascists fear the most is the myth of Bhuttos. In extreme of moods their real hatred comes out and just like the Ashqias of Kerbala , they hysterically try to destroy any thing which has even a remote association with that person.They want to erase that idea from history , from consciousness. The most sacred place for Pakistani democrats , Liaqat Bagh where daughter of Sindh was treacherously murdered with many others, has been attacked by Fascist goons. They have placed a dagger in our heart no doubt but its the lesson of history , these goons lost in Kerbala and they will loose in Pakistan. When BB was alive Mohsin Naqvi called her "Kaniz e Kerbala", when she died , poets turned Pindi into Kufa. She had crossed over into myths , into music, into poetry , into folk lore. Let them burn and destroy every thing, they cannot destroy words, they cannot destroy lines, they cannot destroy music. She lives in the stories which Sindhi and Saraiki mothers tell to their children at night. She lives in words of Faraz and Fehmida Riyaz. She lives in hearts and no fascist can erase it from there
Thaper Jis ne maare, wu haath ik Kirdar tha
Aariz Sakeena ke na the , tareekh ka rukhsar tha
Its a battle of Ideas , it will continue----
I guess they learned it from the PPP goons who raped, looted, burned and murdered people after the death of BB.
Learn some courage from them as well.
Sherry, your comment brought tears to my eyes; it really touched my heart. Thank you.
You very rightly noted that: "The reason for this mentality is the "fear of myth". They know that their animosity is not towards that person who they are killing but with an idea which that person symbolizes."
That's the insurmountable challenge facing the rightwing in Pakistan today. They want to destroy all symbols of tolerance, freedom, multiculturalism and critical inquiry from within the Pakistani society. In order to do that on the political front they need to destroy the myth of Bhuttos and the PPP from the hearts and minds of the people of Pakistan. On the religious front, they need to destroy the myth of Karbala and the love of Sufis and Aulia-Allah from the hearts and minds of the majority of peace loving people of this unfortunate republic.
That explains why Taliban and their supporters in the rightwing systematically target PPP, ANP and other secular forces on the political front and Shias, Barelvis, and the non-Muslim minorities on the religious front.
I wonder how long it will take for the people of Pakistan to realize that the biggest threat they face is not external but internal, namely the Saudi-Wahhabi puritanical interpretation of Islam which offers no space for tolerance and critical inquiry, an evil ideology which has been funded by and imported from the Saudi Arabia and implemented by the ISI.
Rubina Saigol wrote an interesting piece in The News a few days ago in which she argued that fundamentalism in Pakistan ought to be traced much further back to Imam Hanbal, Al-Ashari, Imam Ghazali (he influenced writers like Ashraf Thanvi who wrote Bahishti Zewar), Abdul Wahhab and the Darul Uloom, Deoband.
http://letusbuildpakistan.blogspot.com/2009/02/rubina-saigol-some-myths-vs-facts-about.html
You mentioned shaheed Mohsin Naqvi. Here is a link in which he speaks about Koofis and Shamis. (We have both categories in abundance in Pakistan.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DugOaR8DRYo
To conclude this very long comment, I borrow these words from Iqbal:
Haqeeqat-e-abadi hay muqaam-e-Shabbiri
Badaltay rehtay hain andaaz-e-Koofi-o-Shami
This too shall pass. Myths shall never die. Killers shall.
Post a Comment
1. You are very welcome to comment, more so if you do not agree with the opinion expressed through this post.
2. If you wish to hide your identity, post with a pseudonym but don't select the 'anonymous' option.
3. Copying the text of your comment may save you the trouble of re-writing if there is an error in posting.