By IANS
Karachi : Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) cadres from across the country have gathered here to welcome their chief and former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, who arrives here Thursday after nine years in exile.
The gathering of large crowds who have come from all corners – ranging from Skardu in Northern Areas to a contingent of minority Hindus from Umerkot district of Sindh province – is being described as a “mini Pakistan” by The Daily Times Wednesday.
Among the old party faithful is A. Razzaque, a ward level chief of the party’s Keimari Town unit here who met the media here with his body sprinkled with petrol.
Emotions ran high with Razzaque threatening to immolate himself and his four children if even one PPP flag or festoon is removed on the orders of Sindh Chief Minister Arbab Rahim.
Benazir will move in a motorcade, and not by helicopter from the airport to Bilawal House, her home at Clifton, the party announced Tuesday as Karachi was virtually painted in the PPP colours of red, black and green.
Pro-Taliban militant leader Abdullah Mehsud has already threatened to kill the former prime minister for speaking against the Taliban in the course of her many interviews. But her party says it will protect her without a single weapon.
She will travel in a bulletproof vehicle surrounded by at least 5,000 unarmed party cadres. They will be identified by the separate uniform they will wear.
Dozens of others will be deployed on several buildings along the route with searchlights, mobile phones, wireless sets, telescopes and other security equipment. No law enforcement agency personnel will be allowed in the circle.
Covering the event will be an estimated 50 foreign media teams who have booked into large Karachi hotels.
The party said its show of numbers would be “record-breaking”. PPP’s finance secretary Babar Awan said all those aspiring to contest the forthcoming elections as PPP candidates had been tasked with showing their strength.
From the airport, Bhutto will first offer homage to Pakistan’s founding father, Mohammed Ali Jinnah, at his mausoleum Mazaar-e-Qaid and then address the crowd at Sharah-e-Quaideen, just as she did in 1986 after years of exile pushed by then military dictator Gen. Zia-ul Haq.
The Sindh government has assured the PPP that the security arrangements to be made for would be similar to that given to the president and prime minister, The Daily Times said.