Monday, 28 December, 2020 I 12 Jumada Al-Awwal, 1442 I Rs 40.00 I Vol XI No 179 I 52 Pages I Islamabad Edition
PDM Pays tribute to benazir bhutto, DeManDs PM's resignation g
Bilawal says if pM iMran Doesn’t resign By Jan 31, pDM will start a longMarch to islaMaBaD
LARKANA
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staff report
he leadership of the pakistan Democratic Movement (pDM), the umbrella alliance of 11 opposition parties, gathered in garhi Khuda Bux, a small village in larkana, sindh, for an anti-government meeting on the eve of the 13th death anniversary of slain prime minister Benazir Bhutto. Bhutto, 54, was assassinated by a suicide bomber on December 27, 2007, plunging the nation into one of the worst crises in its history. last week, pakistan people’s party (ppp) chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari contacted the pDM leadership to invite them to attend the annual commemoration ceremony in larkana. as expected, the occasion turned into a political power show with the presence of pDM leadership on the occasion. the opposition leaders addressed a large crowd of
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MaryaM lashes out at preMier, says he’s not fighting pDM, rather he’s fighting the ‘entire population’
supporters and opposition workers waving flags in the audience from the stage at the rally venue. ppp chairman Bilawal said that the Bhutto mausoleum in garhi Khuda Bakhsh is enough evidence to know that the pDM would not back down. he recounted the struggles of his grandfather and his uncles, all who “sacrificed their lives” but “did not sway from their democratic beliefs”. Bilawal asserted the pDM was here to rescue the country and to end “the business of selected and selection”. he further said the provinces were not being given their due share under the national finance commission (nfc) award. the ppp chairman, while paying tribute to his late mother Benazir, said that her ideology is still alive whereas those who fought with her are nowhere to be seen. when Benazir returned to the country in 2007, he said, she knew that she could be assassinated but she did not back off. “look
at Benazir Bhutto’s life, spent in the service of the people,” he said. “Benazir is alive today in the hearts of everyone, and those who clashed with her, their names are forgotten,” he said to the charged crowd. Bilawal reiterated that if prime Minister imran Khan refused to resign by January 31, the opposition would stage a long march to islamabad. ppp co-chairman asif ali Zardari, while addressing the rally via video-link, likened the government to a “cricket team” which cannot run the country. he reminded the crowded that, following the ideology of party founder and his late wife Benzair, he introduced the 18 amendment to empower the provinces. he said that the pakistan tehreek-e-insaf (pti) government would collapse “under its own burden” and predicted that the ruling pti would perish just like the past political parties formed by the military dictators. “people like you come and go. you do not have any value.” he challenged the government to hold elections and see who the people stand behind. “i want to ask you not to worry so much; they have little time left. they will fall due to their own weight,” the ppp leader told the crowd. he said that while he was not afraid of jails, the national accountability Bureau (naB) was running a “black market” and issuing warrants for businessmen. the ppp did not have a single political prisoner during its government, he added. later, Maryam took the stage and expressed her sympathies for Bilawal, who lost his mother at such a young age. she also said that the entire nation mourned the loss of the former premier. she recalled how, on that dark day, nawaz sharif was among the first to be notified and how he had embraced ppp leaders and shared their grief that day.
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Terrorist attack on Balochistan checkpost martyrs seven troops RAWALPINDI staff report
seven pakistan army soldiers embraced martyrdom after militants attacked a security checkpost of frontier corps in harnai district of Balochistan late saturday night, the inter-services public relations (ispr) said. according to a statement issued sunday, the post located in the shahrag town of harnai came under ” terrorist fire raid” late at night. During an “intense exchange of fire”, seven “brave” soldiers laid their lives while “repulsing raiding terrorists”. the area, ispr said, has been cordoned off and escape routes blocked to apprehend the fleeing militants. a large scale search and clearance operation was in progress
in today’s issue
in the area, it added. “such cowardly acts by inimical elements backed by anti-state forces will not be allowed to sabotage hardearned peace and prosperity in Balochistan,” the military’s media wing said. the security forces were determined to “thwart their nefarious designs at all costs”, it said. the martyred troops were identified as naib subedar gulzar, resident of Mianwali; sepoy faisal, resident of hafizabad; sepoy abdul wakeel, resident of pishin; sepoy sher Zaman, resident of Kohat; sepoy Jamal, resident of Dera Bugti; abdul rauf, resident of Dera ghazi Khan; and faqeer Muhammad, resident of Muzaffargarh.
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