PPP leaders hail 58-Year struggle of their party that brought politics from drawing rooms to People
Adnan Athar
Karachi
Sindh Minister for Labour, Human Resources and Social Protection and President of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Karachi Division, Saeed Ghani, together with PPP Sindh General Secretary Senator Syed Waqar Mehdi, has said that when the party’s founding chairman, Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, laid the foundation of the Pakistan Peoples Party 58 years ago, national politics was confined to the drawing rooms of feudal lords and influential landlords. Since the establishment of the PPP, politics has shifted into the hands of ordinary citizens, workers, labourers, and the lower and middle classes.
They said Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto awakened political consciousness among the people and opened the doors of national politics to the common man. The PPP’s role in reducing the influence of the establishment in politics is well known, though other political parties, along with the judiciary, journalists, and civil society, also bear responsibility in ensuring that politics and democracy function in their true spirit.
They added that no political party has suffered more from electoral rigging than the Pakistan Peoples Party. As the PPP marks its foundation day on 30 November, people across the country are celebrating the occasion with great enthusiasm. The public gathering to be held under the PPP Karachi Division at Shah Ahmad Noorani Eidgah Ground, Korangi 3½, will, they said, be a historic event for Karachi.
The leaders expressed these views during a crowded press conference at the Shah Ahmad Noorani Eidgah Ground on Saturday. Present on the occasion were PPP Karachi Division General Secretary Rauf Ahmed Nagori, Information Secretary Dr Sharmila Faruqi, District Korangi President Jani Memon, Senior Vice President Shiraz Waheed, General Secretary Sharjeel Rizwani, Information Secretary Ahmed Raza, Korangi Town Chairman Muhammad Naeem Sheikh, the venue in-charge Sardar Khan, and other leaders. Earlier, the leaders reviewed preparations at the venue, including enclosures designated for women, men, and the media.
Addressing the press conference, Provincial Minister and Karachi Division President Saeed Ghani said that Sunday, 30 November, marks the PPP’s foundation day. Before 2024, large gatherings were organised in major cities of different provinces to mark the event, attended by workers from across the country. In 2024, the party decided that foundation day gatherings would be held at the district level throughout Pakistan. PPP Karachi had requested the leadership to allow a rally in the city, which was approved this year as well.
He said that in 2024, the foundation day gathering was held in District East, and this time it is being held in Korangi. On foundation day, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari will address district-level gatherings via video link, and the Karachi gathering will begin at 1 pm, with participants expected to arrive from 47 provincial constituencies in the form of rallies. He expressed confidence that not only would the event be successful, but it would also be the largest gathering in Karachi’s history.
Ghani said that before the PPP’s formation, politics in the country was controlled by the wealthy, landlords, and feudal elites, conducted within drawing rooms. It was the PPP that opened the political landscape to ordinary people and introduced a transformation unmatched by any other party. He added that today all parties agree on the Constitution gifted by the PPP, and that the party also gave Pakistan its nuclear and missile programmes, as well as provincial autonomy.
He said that the party’s leadership has set an example through sacrifice, and over the past 58 years has achieved historic successes alongside enduring hardships.
Senator Waqar Mehdi said the PPP’s history is marked by sacrifices and martyrdom. The services of Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto to the nation are unforgettable, including giving the country a Constitution that holds the federation together. The party’s leadership and workers struggled against military dictators, with women playing a central role. He added that Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto became the first woman Prime Minister of Pakistan. The party’s leadership was martyred for advocating the restoration of democracy. Waqar Mehdi said the PPP has held massive public gatherings in Karachi before, and Sunday’s event will also prove to be a monumental one.
In response to questions, Saeed Ghani said that security and traffic arrangements for such events fall under the responsibility of the city’s administration, and the district administration is in close coordination regarding all preparations. The People’s Youth Organisation will manage traffic arrangements, while the People’s Students Federation will handle security and other responsibilities inside and outside the venue.
Responding to another query, Ghani said that since 1977, dictators and the establishment have tried every tactic to eliminate the PPP. He recalled that in the 1988 elections in Punjab, the party faced extreme oppression, aimed at ensuring its defeat, yet the PPP still won National Assembly seats and replicated that success in the provincial elections. He said this pattern continues in Punjab even today, and from 1977 to date, the establishment has never allowed the PPP to form a government there.
He reiterated that no political party has suffered more electoral manipulation than the PPP, which has faced this challenge since its inception. Despite this, the party’s continued existence is remarkable; had any other party faced similar circumstances, it would not have survived.
In response to another question, Ghani said that apart from the PPP, no political party in Pakistan currently has permanent leadership. He asserted that in the next general elections, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari would become the Prime Minister of Pakistan, a claim he said they stand by.
Ghani added that throughout Pakistan’s political history, the establishment and military have played the most significant role in politics. The PPP is the only political party that has consistently endeavoured to ensure greater space for political actors. However, he stressed, this responsibility does not lie solely with the PPP; all political parties, along with the judiciary, media, and civil society, must also work to minimise the establishment’s role in politics.
He concluded by saying that the PPP is not a militant organisation but a political party that believes in democratic struggle, parliamentary action, and constitutional politics. The party includes people from all backgrounds; even landlords and feudal figures must now remain connected with the poor and ordinary citizens.
