ISLAMABAD: The death sentence given to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the former prime minister and founder of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), should be overturned, demanded a National Assembly resolution passed on Wednesday, Radio Pakistan reported.
The session, which resumed at the Parliament House in Islamabad this afternoon with Deputy Speaker Syed Ghulam Mustafa Shah presiding, saw the resolution put forward by PPP leader Shazia Marri.
The resolution also urged the federal government to officially declare Bhutto as a Shaheed (martyr) and a national democratic hero.
Furthermore, the resolution called for the posthumous awarding of the prestigious Nishan-e-Pakistan to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and proposed the establishment of the Nishan-e-Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Award to honour workers and activists who have championed true democracy in Pakistan, even at the cost of their lives.
In other matters, the House paid tribute to the lives lost in recent tragedies, including the fishermen who perished when their boat capsized in the open sea. Additionally, prayers were offered for the souls of those who died in various incidents across the country.
The National Assembly session has been adjourned and is set to reconvene on Friday at 11am.
The House offered fateha for the departed souls of fishermen drowned in a recent incident when their boat capsized in the open sea. The House also prayed for the departed souls of those, who died in different incidents across Pakistan.
The House has now been adjourned to meet again on Friday at 11 a.m.
On Thursday, the Sindh Assembly adopted a resolution demanding the federal government to declare Zulfikar Ali Bhutto a national democratic hero.
The resolution that was passed unanimously was moved by Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah calling upon the federal government to officially declare PPP founder as ‘Shaheed’.
On March 6, the Supreme Court admitted that the former prime minister was not given the right to a fair trial, almost 44 years after he was hanged in a murder case.
A nine-member larger bench of the apex, led by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, announced its opinion on a presidential reference filed by former president Asif Ali Zardari more than a decade ago. The announcement was also broadcast live on the YouTube channel of the Supreme Court.
The chief justice announced the court’s reserved written order, which said Bhutto’s trial in the Lahore High Court (LHC) and then in the Supreme Court was not conducted in accordance with the fundamental rights and fair trial provided by the Constitution.
Late Bhutto was convicted in the murder case of Muhammad Khan Kasuri by the LHC, over a year after the toppling of his government on July 5, 1977 by military dictator Gen Ziaul Haq. Later, Bhutto’s appeal against his conviction was rejected by the Supreme Court through a 4-3 split verdict.
The PPP always contended that the party founder and the country’s first elected prime minister was falsely convicted and hanged. During the PPP government from 2008-13, the then president sent a reference to the apex court to review the case and acquit Bhutto.__Tribune.com
