Pakistan remembers Benazir Bhutto on her 18th Death Anniversary

LARKANA: Former prime minister of Pakistan Shaheed Benazir Bhutto’s 18th death anniversary is being observed today (Saturday).

Benazir Bhutto was martyred in a gun and bomb attack when she was returning after addressing an election rally at Liaquat Bagh of Rawalpindi on December 27, 2007.

All arrangements have been completed for the main function of the anniversary at Garhi Khuda Bakhsh Bhutto.

Stringent security has been ensured for the VVIPs and general public as over 8,500 police officers and personnel, besides Rangers and other security agencies, have been deployed at and around Bhuttos’ mausoleum.

Several hundred thousand people coming from across the country are expected to attend the programme, where President Asif Ali Zardari, Pakistan People’s Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and many other senior PPP leaders are to pay homage to Shaheed Benazir Bhutto in Garhi Khuda Bakhsh Bhutto.

Hundreds of caravans of party workers and supporters have already reached to the venue by buses, trucks, cars and other vehicles while hundreds of others were on their way to Garhi Khuda Bakhsh on foot, reports said.

Weeks before the general elections in the country in 2007, she was targeted in a gun and bomb attack when she was returning after addressing an election rally at Liaquat Bagh of Rawalpindi.

The attack, in which she was killed with scores of her party activists, jolted the political landscape of the country and triggered a frenzy of anarchy and arson attacks that resulted in billions of rupees loss to the country.

Benazir Bhutto is considered one of the most dynamic figures in the world politics and her struggle for democracy was posthumously honored and acknowledged in the world.

In 2006, Benazir Bhutto put aside her differences with Nawaz Sharif and work towards a democratic Pakistan. Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif signed a landmark agreement the Charter of Democracy, that aimed to strengthen democracy and ensure the smooth transfer of power.

On October 18, 2007, Benazir Bhutto returned to Karachi after eight years in exile. Her homecoming was met with widespread enthusiasm however her life was under threat. As her convoy reached Karsaz, two explosions occurred, killing 139 people and injuring over 450. Bhutto miraculously survived the attack, but the perpetrators’ intentions were clear. The attack was a brutal attempt to silence Bhutto, but she refused to back down.

The Karsaz attack was a turning point in Bhutto’s journey, and it only strengthened her resolve to fight for her country’s future. December 27, 2007, was the ill-fated day when Benazir Bhutto was martyred in terrorist attack in Rawalpindi.