Former Pakistan premier Benazir Bhutto on Saturday offered prayers at her father’s tomb after travelling to her ancestral village from Karachi, her first visit outside the port city since a suicide attack on her homecoming procession that left nearly 140 people dead last week.
Fifty four-year-old Bhutto was given a rousing welcome by hundreds of cheering supporters when she flew from Karachi to Sukkur, a town near her hometown of Larkana.
Bhutto, who returned to Pakistan nine days ago from eight years of self-imposed exile, reached Sukkur with a large contingent of journalists and top leaders of her Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).
From the Sukkur airport, she travelled to Garhi Khuda Bux village, 28 km from Larkana town, to pray at the tomb of her father and PPP founder, former prime minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. Bhutto, who survived an assassination attempt on the day of her return to Pakistan on October 18, looked very tense and was surrounded by a large number of party workers and security personnel as she entered the tomb of her father, where she also placed rose petals.
PPP workers and security personnel jostled with the supporters who tried to go near Bhutto, who also visited the graves of her brothers Mir Murtaza Bhutto and Shahnawaz Bhutto.
She read passages from Quran and ‘Fateha’, prayers for the salvation of the dead, at the graves of her father and brothers.
PPP workers, many of them heavily armed and carrying AK-47 rifles, have thrown a protective ring around the tomb that was built by Bhutto.
Most roads in Larkana were lined by PPP flags and banners featuring pictures of Bhutto and her father.
, who is revered by the people of the area. Many people visit his tomb every day to pray at his grave.
“I will do what I can to save Pakistan by saving democracy,” Bhutto told reporters before her aircraft landed at Sukkur airport.
Clad in a maroon salwar-kameez with her head covered with her trademark white scarf and an amulet tied to her left arm, Bhutto kissed a copy of Quran given to her by the PPP leaders as she stepped out of the plane.
She was greeted by the jubilant supporters when she emerged in a white SUV with rose petals being showered over her. Many shouted “Long live Bhutto”.
Hundreds of police and paramilitary forces toting automatic weapons were deployed at the airport.
Despite the elaborate security arrangements which the PPP had made for her visit, scores of people surrounded Bhutto’s vehicle, creating scares for her private security guards and party volunteers.
Unlike her rally in Karachi on October 18, her convoy did not slow down on Saturday and sped out of the airport. Bhutto emerged through the vehicle’s sun roof and waved to the people, many of them carrying the PPP’s distinctive red, black and green flag.
“I am glad to be here,” Bhutto said.
