Draft statement for comments and endorsements by 1 p.m. Thursday, 27 December 2018

[Tahira Abdullah]

Draft statement for comments and endorsements by 1 p.m. Thursday, 27 December 2018 by EVAWG and other networks cc'ed above:

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Civil Society Remembers Benazir Bhutto Shaheed on her 11^th Death Anniversary

Islamabad, 27 December 2018

We have not forgotten Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto Shaheed.  And we never will.

But, sadly, 11 years on, fewer Pakistanis remember BB Shaheed, and fewer still are willing to brave the creeping, silent, intimidating, ever-present, increasing threat to our inalienable right to dissent and to express ourselves freely in public.

With a handful of notable exceptions, even members of the small and diminishing band of BB’s “staunch, faithful loyalists” no longer mention her name in their public speeches, writings, and regular appearances on television talk shows, other than on her Barsi.  Or perhaps it gets “edited” (aka censored) out? Who knows…

We wonder how the federal and provincial Governments’ public sector Education curriculum developers and the authors of Pakistan Studies textbooks, are planning to write the section on our twice-elected, first and only woman Prime Minister’s achievements and contributions, surmounting huge odds; her many firsts during her incredibly courageous, inspiring life; and her brave sacrifice of it for her country, for democracy, for justice, and for fundamental human rights.

Or will the true account of BB Shaheed’s life be glossed over in one or two heavily “edited” (sic) sentences, the way our textbooks now treat Bangladesh? And for how long can we afford to continue to glorify the opposite of peace-mongering? Will all those, who dare to suggest peace-building with our neighbours to our east and west, continue to be called out as “traitors” (sic)?  Have 33 years under four repressive military dictatorships taught us no lessons for our future? Do we not realize that “those who forget their history are condemned to repeat it”?

The best tribute we can now offer to BB Shaheed is to demand posthumous justice for her; for publication of the true facts of her heinous assassination plot; and for her life and contributions to be acknowledged and published by the State.  “BB humm sharminda hein, aapkay qaatil niqaab mein azaad hein.”  Rest in peace BB Shaheed.

[ends-305]

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[Lala Hassan]

Endorsed. 

Peace 

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