LONDON (Reuters) - The death of eight Christians burnt alive in clashes with majority Muslims has diminished Pakistan and injured the Muslim faith, the spiritual head of the world’s 77 million Anglicans said on Tuesday.
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ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari Tuesday said he was committed to strengthening the institutions to make Pakistan into a strong and prosperous nation and never let it turn to a failed state.
Addressing a convention of the PPP office bearers from all districts of the country along with their spouses and children at the President House, President Zardari said, ?We will make a new Pakistan.?
?Pakistan Peoples Party has nurtured this country with its blood and will render all sacrifices to make it strong,? the President said.
Referring to a ?handful? of elements who were bent upon turning Pakistan into a failed state through their ?distorted vision? the President said ?we will not let it happen.?
President Zardari said the Party had come into power through elections but the remnants of dictatorship could not stomach it and were carrying out a vicious propaganda against the Party.
He said that Shaheed Mohtarma was assassinated as part of conspiracy against Pakistan, the Islamic world and the region.
He said that the UN investigations into her assassination had unnerved the conspirators who now saw the writing on the wall. The probe will unveil her assassins, he said. He urged the Party workers to be cautious and careful against the machinations of the conspirators.
Zardari said the history of PPP was replete with stories of courage, sacrifice and determination.
He recalled the prophetic words of Shaheed Mohtarma Bhutto on Dec 27, 2007 in Rawalpindi when she mentioned that the militants were taking over Swat but the PPP and the people would protect. He said Shaheed Mohtarma?s words had come true as the Party and the people reversed the tide in Swat and Malakand.
President Zardari said the PPP stood for egalitarianism, tolerance, democracy and constitutionalism.
He said the recent incident in Gojra where the minorities were vandalized by zealots struck at the root of tolerance and egalitarianism and warned that the full force of law will visit those who had taken the law into their own hands.
The President said the government will ensure protection to all minorities, and indeed to all citizens.
The President who began his speech with the slogans of ?Jeay Bhutto? and ?Pakistan khapay? welcomed the party workers to the Presidency of Shaheeds Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto.
He recalled that the late leaders refused to bow down to powers of tyranny, even though they had to sacrifice their lives.
The President said that it was always the desire of the Pakistan Peoples Party to strengthen judiciary.
The President it was his desire that the children of the PPP workers and leaders meet his children, who would be their future protectors and will serve them.
The huge ?pandal? decorated with the tri-color party flags burst into a spontaneous and prolonged applause of ?Jeeay Bhutto?, ?Zinda hai Bibi Zinda hai?, ?Har ghar sai Bhutto niklai ga, tum kitnai Bhutto marogai?, ?Jab tak suraj chand rahai ga, Bhutto tera nam rahai ga? and ?Benazir charon soobon ki zanjeer?, as the party leadership led by Chairman Bilawal entered.
The emotional slogans, recalled for many the sacrifices rendered by the party leaving many a eyes, including that of Chairman Bilawal moist with tears.
The convention was arranged to bring the rank and file of the party?s office bearers face to face with Party Chairman Bilawal, Co Chairman Asif Ali Zardari, Aseefa Bhutto Zardari and the top Party leadership.
The event was attended among others by Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani, Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira, Water and Power Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah and provincial ministers.
The invitees included Presidents? vice Presidents, General Secretaries, Information secretaries and Secretaries Record and Events of all districts from Zhob to Chitral and from Karachi to Peshawar.
Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani said the government was committed to bring about a meaningful change in the lives of the people.
?We vow to change the system in the light of the mission of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto so that no one is ground by the wheel of exploitation,? he said.
The Prime Minister also recounted the achievements of the present government following in the footsteps of Shaheed Mohtarma and the Party manifesto.
He recalled the tragic incident in Gojra and said incidents of target killing were part of a conspiracy to weaken the government.
?We will foil all such attempts that aim at creating chaos and unrest in the country,? he said.
He reiterated to turn Pakistan into a strong, vibrant, democratic country and urged the workers to forge unity amongst their ranks to help the government in tackling the challenges it was confronting.
He said Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto laid down her life for the sake of the country and democracy and President Asif Ali Zardari exhibited his strong political acumen to strengthen the federation at a critical juncture.
Later talking to media, spokesperson to the President Farhatullah Babar said the Convention was the second open air moot in the Presidency in less than a month of Party workers and office bearers in which their spouses and children also participated to make it an unprecedented huge family get together.
Farhatullah Babar said that last month the Co-Chairman had invited three generations of the Party leadership to a gathering in the Presidency that was similarly attended by the Zardari children. In that meeting also the party leadership endorsed the new Party leadership.
Over one thousand Party workers, leaders and their families participated in the get together that lasted for over four hours.
Farhatullah Babar said Chairman Bilawal Bhutto was invited to the dais amid standing ovation as Jahangir Badar announced him as the ?real and undisputed leader of the Party?.
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari recalled the services and sacrifices of his mother and grandfather to the Party and the country and said that he too would not hesitate to offer any sacrifice for ameliorating the lot of the downtrodden people of the country.
Farhatullah Babar quoted Bilawal as saying, ?I want to see the children of Malakand get the same education and facilities of life as are available to children in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad?
Bilawal described himself as ?the third generation of a world-wide family called the PPP?.
He said Bhutto was alive yesterday and he is alive today because of the courage and sacrifices of the workers.
Bilawal then asked the workers if Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Shaheed Mohtarma had fulfilled their promises made to them.
Farhatullah Babar said that when the workers raised a deafening ?yes? Bilawal assured them that he too like his mother and grandfather will fulfill his promises.
?My grandfather, my uncles and my mother all sacrificed their lives for the cause and if need be I too will follow in the footsteps of my peers and not hesitate from making sacrifices.?
Chairman Bilawal Bhutto said ?let us not forget the hundreds of Party workers who laid down their lives on July 17, 2007 in Islamabad on Oct 19, 2007 in Karachi and on Dec 27, 2007 -, Rawalpindi and on many other occasions in the past in the struggle for democracy, rule of law and empowering the people.?
Today the present and the future of the Party meet at a critical juncture that enables us to carve out a new future that is shaped by the experience of the past and the hope of the future, he said.
At this point of time let us all pledge together to give hope to the people, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said.
?I promise to give the people hope,? he said.
Bilawal said that the Party and workers will succeed in their mission and recalled the words of his mother,? we did not suffer that much, we did not come that far to fail?.
Asifa Bhutto Zardari said that her grandfather and her mother had made great sacrifices and so had the ordinary workers of the Party from Karachi to Khyber had mad unprecedented sacrifices for the cause of democracy.
She said that her mother wanted to make a difference and she made it.
?I too have a dream to make a difference,? she said and added that together we will build on the dream of my mother.
Asifa Bhutto said that her mother would be very happy on seeing this gathering of the large PPP family that she led for nearly three decades.
She said that she was proud of her father her mother and the Party. She said that she dreamt for a Pakistan that is free of exploitation, hypocrisy and bigotry.
The pandal burst into a thunderous applause when she concluded her speech with ?Tum kitnai Bhutto marogai, har ghar sai Bhutto niklaiga?.
Secretary General Senator Jahangir Badar who also acted as the stage secretary had to calm down the charged gathering of over a thousand workers whenever they burst into spontaneous sloganeering that continued almost unabated and without end.
Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani, Deputy Secretary General Raza Rabbani and Asifa Bhutto Zardari, Secretary General Jehangir Badar and Fauzia Wahab were seated on the dais, in front of a huge banner comprising of portraits of the party leaders.
The meeting also adopted a resolution expressing complete confidence in the Party leadership and vowing to continue the mission of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto.
Party workers and leaders vowed to uphold the legacy of Bhuttos and endorsed the leadership of Bilawal Bhutto Zardari as the new Chairman of the Party.
The meeting demanded that those behind the murder of Shaheed Mohtarma be unearthed and vowed that the party will never shy from rendering any sacrifice.
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