Islamabad: People across Pakistan on Sunday
paid tributes to slain former premier Benazir Bhutto and
offered special prayers on the second anniversary of her
assassination even as her close aides called on the PPP-led
government to identify and bring her killers to justice.
The Pakistan People's Party organised special meetings
and prayers in cities and towns all over the country,
including Bhutto's ancestral town of Naudero in Sindh
province, to commemorate her death anniversary.
Bhutto's widower President Asif Ali Zardari, who is
rarely seen in public, travelled to Naudero to participate in
meetings there.
Zardari and his children ? Bilawal, who is chairman of
the PPP, Bakhtawar and Asifa ? reached Naudero late last
night. Bilawal and his siblings visited the graves of members
of the Bhutto family at a mausoleum in Garhi Khuda Baksh
amidst tight security arrangements.
They visited the graves of their mother Benazir,
grandfather Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and uncles Mir Murtaza and
Shahnawaz and laid floral wreaths and offered 'fateha' or
special prayers for the dead.
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and several federal
ministers paid tribute to Bhutto at her mausoleum in Garhi
Khuda Baksh in Sindh this afternoon. They laid a 'chadar' and
showered flowers on her grave before offering 'fateha'.
Gilani said the best way to pay respect to Benazir
Bhutto was to carry forward the mission undertaken by her and
her father.
The constitution of 1973 framed by Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto
will be restored to its original form and the government will
take all measures to strengthen the federation through
politics of reconciliation.
The UN probe into the killing of Benazir Bhutto, who
was assassinated by a suicide bomber after addressing an
election rally in Rawalpindi two years ago, had been extended
by a month and the facts uncovered by it would be presented to
the country, Gilani said.
However, some of Bhutto's close aides said the PPP's
credibility would be affected if it failed to come up with a
credible report on her killing.
"I believe that it would be quite harmful for the PPP
if it fails to bring the people behind (Bhutto's) murder to
justice," said PPP leader Safdar Abbasi, who was with Bhutto
at the time of her death.
Besides the UN probe, the Federal Investigation Agency
is also looking into Bhutto's assassination but has been
unable to trace the perpetrators, financiers and mastermind
behind the killing.
Reports have also suggested that the government has
refused to give the UN probe commission access to top military
officials, including army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani.
Former President Pervez Musharraf had blamed slain
Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud for masterminding the
attack on Bhutto but he denied he was involved.
On Bhutto's first death anniversary, Zardari said in a
speech he knew who her killers were and that he would identify
them at an appropriate time.
However, he has made no more revelations.
The PPP made special arrangements to observe Bhutto’s
death anniversary at Liaquat Bagh, the ground in Rawalpindi
outside which she was assassinated.
The area was decorated with PPP flags and huge posters
of Bhutto and her father. Recordings of Bhutto's last speech
were played while people read the holy Quran at the venue.
On the directives of Zardari, the death anniversary is
being observed simply out of respect for the Islamic holy
month of Muharram, which is a period of mourning for the Shia
community.
PTI
First Published: Sunday, December 27, 2009, 15:50