The darkest day

JULY 5, 1977, will go down as a black day in the annals of our history when a dictator removed a democratically elected Prime Minister from office and played havoc with the country for 11 years. PPP Co-Chairman Asif Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Gilani have vowed to eliminate the chances of dictatorship ever emerging again in the country. However, though the PPP has been in power for three months, it continues to prevaricate in putting an end to dictatorship. As CMLA General Zia promised to hold elections within 90 days but went back on his words after noticing that Zulfikar Ali Bhutto had regained popularity after being ousted from power and removed him from the scene. He was implicated in aiding and abetting the murder of a political opponent and hanged despite clemency appeals from the world over. Zia paved the way for future military takeovers, introduced draconian amendments in the constitution that led to the unceremonious dismissal of five successive democratic governments. Two decades after his death General Musharraf staged a coup and did everything he could to undermine democratic institutions.

Political forces without distinction of party affiliation ought to have registered their voice against Zia’s undemocratic act. It is a pity that PML-N stayed away from observing the day as a black day which its coalition partner PPP did, taking out rallies in various parts of the country. PML-N leader Raja Zafarul Haq dismissed the idea saying that as there had been several dictators in the country’s history, it was not possible to observe so many black days.