ISLAMABAD  - Speaker National Assembly, Dr Fehmida Mirza, on Wednesday called upon all political forces to rise above party lines to work for democracy and progress of the country and rebuild Pakistan as Shaheed Benazir Bhutto dreamed.
Shaheed Benazir Bhutto fought for the downtrodden and oppressed and longed for a forward-looking Pakistan where women were not subjected to humiliation, torture and treated with respect, the Speaker said this in her message issued here on 58th Birth Anniversary of Benazir Bhutto being observed Thursday.
Shaheed leader was a visionary and a stateswomen and always aspired for a world, free from exploitation and discrimination between privileged and underprivileged, men and women. Dr Fehmida Mirza said that Shaheed Mohtarma had a towering and multi-dimensional personality and was bacon of light for the downtrodden, oppressed, and marginalized segments of the society.
She said Mohtarma had the courage to challenge the worst dictatorship of the times when compared with other contemporary politicians. Dr Fehmida Mirza said Benazir Bhutto worked diligently as twice-elected Prime Minister towards the well-defined goals of women empowerment.
Shaheed Mohtarma brought women to the mainstream by appointing them as judges of the superior courts, opened first women bank, ensured state protection for women. The Speaker said that Shaheed leader strongly believed in reconciliation and forbearance and tried to look for similarities rather than to seek differences and believed in building bridges and not living in isolation, both at the international as well as national front.
The Speaker said that today as the nation funds itself encircled by challenges and threats, therefore, we should follow the footsteps of the Mohtarma in order to steer the country out of the present quagmire.
She said that Mohtarma was a strong believer of solidarity of Federation and provincial autonomy and added people of Pakistan had their confidence in her and whenever the nation was given a relatively free change to choose, her political party returned successful from all the four federating units.