President Zardari terms July 5 black day of history

JULY 5TH BLACK DAY OF PAKISTAN,WHEN DEMOCRACY WAS CRUSHED AND RELIGIOUS FANATICISM WAS INTRODUCED BY ONE ARMY GENERAL. PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari has said July 5 would always be remembered as dark day of tyranny and oppression in the history of Pakistan. “July 5, 1977 and its aftermath starkly reminds us how one military dictator spawned extremists for his political survival and how another exploited the same extremists for promoting his political agenda,” Zardari said in a statement issued here on Friday. “This realization will help us understand better how to check militancy and terrorism,” he added. Thirty-one years ago, on this day, an unfortunate tale of destruction was unleashed on the democratic institutions; judiciary was decimated, fundamental rights usurped and innocent people were flogged and hanged merely for political dissent. Menace of sectarianism, religious extremism and private Jihad were deliberately promoted by the usurper to create an artificial constituency for perpetuating his rule as a reign of terror was let loose, PPP co-chairman said. Terming the period as brutal and barbaric, he said, “The dictatorship promoted and patronized the extremist groups, who went on to form Taliban and Al-Qaeda.” The president said if today Pakistan was the Petrie dish of international terrorism it was the product of failed international politics on the one hand and the machinations of our own dictators on the other. “Let us resolve to banish dictatorship from Pakistan forever and restore law and order. Also pledge to confront fanaticism, terrorism and militancy wherever it rears its ugly head and not permit any dictator to use them as tools for advancing his personal political agenda,” he added.