Reminds the nation of how dictators spawned extremists only to perpetuate themselves in power
 

Islamabad, 4 July 2008: Co-Chairperson of the Pakistan Peoples Party Senator Asif Ali Zardari has said that July 5 will always be remembered as a dark day of tyranny and oppression in the history of Pakistan.

In a message today he said that July 5, 1977 and its aftermath starkly reminded us how one military dictator spawned extremists for his
political survival and how another dictatorship exploited the same extremists for promoting his political agenda. "This realization will help us understand better how to contain militancy and terrorism".

Thirty-one years ago on this day an unfortunate tale of destruction was unleashed on the state's democratic institutions. The judiciary was decimated, fundamental rights usurped and the people of Pakistan disenfranchised. Innocent people were flogged and hanged merely for political dissent.

As Shaheed Mohtarma Bhutto once said, "Corruption flourished with the creation of dollar Generals who exploited the Soviet presence in Afghanistan to line their own pockets. Siachen Glacier was lost while the dictator watched cricket and films". Sectarianism, religious extremism and private jehad were deliberately promoted by the usurper to
create an artificial constituency for perpetuating his rule as a reign of terror was let loose, he said.

He said that it was a brutal and barbaric period in the history of Pakistan as the dictatorship promoted and patronized the extremist religious groups that went on to form Taliban and Al Qaeda that first plunged the world into chaos and now haunt Pakistan.

He said that if today Pakistan was the Petrie dish of international terrorism it was the product of failed international politics on the one hand and the machinations of our own dictators on the other.

Let us on this day resolve to banish dictatorship from Pakistan forever and restore law and order to our land. Let us also pledge on this day to confront fanaticism, terrorism and militancy wherever it rears its ugly head and not permit any dictator to use them as tools for advancing his personal political agenda".

"On this day my thoughts also go to those martyrs of democracy who suffered and sacrificed during that black period of our national history. They suffered so that the future generations may live in peace and honor".

"The Pakistan Peoples Party workers salute Quaid e Awam and all those who gave their lives during the trial and terror of the Zia military dictatorship and who kept alive the flame of democracy despite use of state force of repression to extinguish it. They are our heroes and the nation salutes them."

"On the anniversary of this dark day let us reiterate our resolve to fight for the preservation and promotion of democracy and the rule of law so that our people can confront extremism and sectarianism and march onto the road of progress and prosperity with hope and opportunity for every one".
 

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