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Pakistan Marks Benazir Bhutto’s 18th Anniversary With High-Security Rally and Tough Rhetoric Toward India

PPP leaders framed the commemoration as a call for political unity, pairing it with public credit for the army’s response to recent hostilities with India.

Overview

  • At a large PPP gathering in Garhi Khuda Bakhsh, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and President Asif Ali Zardari lauded Benazir Bhutto’s legacy and claimed Pakistan dealt India a forceful military response in recent clashes, crediting the current army leadership.
  • Around 8,500 police were deployed and a 20-acre main pavilion was set up for the memorial events, reflecting an elevated security posture at the Bhutto family mausoleum.
  • A PML-N delegation led by National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq attended the events and reiterated readiness for political dialogue to stabilize the system.
  • President Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif issued formal tributes emphasizing Benazir Bhutto’s struggle for constitutional rule, parliamentary supremacy, and voters’ rights.
  • Separately, authorities reported active enforcement steps, including an NCCIA arrest in a cyberblackmail case in Islamabad, the recovery of a 14-year-old abducted boy from Peshawar, and an FBR plan to start monitoring social-media sellers of smuggled goods from January 1.