PPP won't allow anyone to undermine parliament: Zardari

PPP co-chairman pays tribute to Karsaz martyrs

ISLAMABAD: Former president and Pakistan People's Party Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari on Sunday said that there should be no doubt in anyone’s mind that his party will not allow anyone to undermine parliament.

The former president said that parliament is our shield against dictatorship. It must be strengthened, not undermined. "The PPP will not allow anyone to undermine parliament. Let there be no doubt or mistake about it," Zardari said in a message on the occasion of the eighth anniversary of the Karsaz tragedy.

He paid glowing tributes to the martyrs of Karsaz, Karachi who laid down their lives while welcoming Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto on her return home from exile eight years ago on this day.

"Today, we salute the martyrs of Karzaz and indeed all martyrs of democracy and vow to carry forward the democratic and egalitarian mission of the PPP as envisioned by its leaders Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto and Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto," Zardari said in a message on the occasion.

"We pledge to continue her mission to banish extremism and root out dictatorship in all its forms and manifestations. An important lesson of democratic struggle was that dictatorship rears its ugly head in different forms and in different manifestations at different times. A subtle and little noticed form of threat to democracy is when institutions and individuals exceed their constitutional authority and trespass into the domain of other constitutional institutions. We must be vigilant against the dictatorial mindset that seeks to drive from the rear seat. This tendency must be exposed and fought," he said.

Zardari said that on this day in 2007, the battle lines were clearly drawn between the forces of democracy on the one hand and the militants and extremists on the other hand. "Since then the battle lines have sharpened. The battle must continue till it is won," he said.

The former president asked the people to also remember in their prayers all those who have laid down their lives and made untold sacrifices in the fight against extremism.—Published in The News