Those who live and die for their nation have always been revered and honored by history. To me, my mother was the personification of struggle and sacrifice for Pakistan and our people. Like her great father, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, who turned Pakistan into a nuclear power at the cost of his own life, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto too never shied away of giving up her everything for this nation. I am proud to have inherited the same values and principles.
For the sake and dignity of the nation, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto embraced martyrdom on 27 December 2007 at Liaqat Bagh in Rawalpindi. Yet, she never shied away from her responsibility as a leader to challenge and take extremist and terrorist forces head on. In her lifelong struggle, she had to face, challenge and overthrow two long dictatorships. She faced every imaginable challenge and brutality. In her tenures in the government too, her struggle for democracy, rule of law, peace and prosperity of the people, continued unabated. I am wholeheartedly committed to continue on her path and to never compromise on democracy, peace, progress and prosperity for every Pakistani.
In hindsight, if we look at all the 54 years of life of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto, it emerges as a timeline of continuous struggle towards a cause. Right from her early days, Benazir Bhutto took keen interest in national issues and accompanied her father at all times even on historic occasions, learning all she could from her charismatic father in the process. At the beginning of her youth, she was faced with the immediate and harrowing challenge of a dictatorship. That struggle alone took 11 precious years of her life in jails and exile. From exile, she gathered the scattered and disheartened political forces, and motivated them to launch a historic struggle against dictatorship which is now a golden chapter in Pakistan's history. On her return to Pakistan, and on becoming the Prime Minister, she took on the challenges of nation building, strengthening of democracy in a country which had just returned to democratic rule, promotion of human rights, gender equality, national progress and prosperity for the people in all parts and provinces of Pakistan. She built on her successes in her second term too. Despite the fact that both her tenures were cut short by the remnants of dictatorship, she gained immense successes which became the basis of democracy and progress in the country and continue to drive and lead the nation even today. With the return of dictatorship, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto took up the fight for democracy all over again, suffered long years of exile once more, and finally succeeded in helping Pakistan return to constitutionalism, rule of law and democracy. Her final challenge was the struggle against extremism and terrorism. This mission continues.
Shaheed Benazir Bhutto's strategy for a strong Pakistan was the strengthening all its institutions. Her unswerving commitment to state institutions was what helped in strengthening the national parliament, national defence forces and the army, the judiciary, and the media. Her vision continues to spearhead Pakistan and successfully tackle its present challenges.
My father's and my struggle today is for rule of law and peace, a direct continuation on the path of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto. This is what also makes the Pakistan People's Party the strongest supporter of the security operations around the country and the National Action Plan. We have been the biggest victims of terrorism and retrogressive tendencies. I have lost my grandfather and my mother in the struggle for Pakistan. My father, the former President of Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari, has lost his dear life partner. Our personal as well as our party's stakes in this struggle are the highest.
The successes for the restoration of peace and security in the province of Sindh are too many and too tangible for all to see. These have only been made possible thanks to this commitment and support of the Pakistan People's Party, our government in Sindh, its leadership at the Federal level, and its workers all over the country.
A peaceful and progressive Pakistan is what Shaheed Benazir Bhutto led and laid her life for. Naturally, a peaceful and progressive Pakistan is our first and foremost priority.
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