PESHAWAR: Expressing concern that militancy was again raising its head in Pakistan, former foreign minister and PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Wednesday stressed the need for political unity to combat the threat.
Addressing the Peshawar High Court Bar, Bilawal said that the entire nation was to take on militancy like one unit. “If we keep fighting with each other, it will benefit the terrorists, he said, and added, “Pakistan is in a difficult situation these days. We all will have to forget our differences to pull the country out of crisis.”
He further said that yesterday’s attack on a police station in Dera Ismail Khan was condemnable. “We all gave sacrifices due to which terrorism was eliminated from the country,” he said.
The PPP chairman regretted that talks with the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) had dealt a major blow to the country. “Those who lost their lives in incidents of terrorism want the government to answer why their sacrifices were allowed to go waste; why a compromise was made with militants. He said people from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, police, and the Armed Forces were among the frontline fighters against terrorism. They were paying the price due to inefficient policymaking, he added.
He alleged that deals were done with terrorist outfits, and notorious terrorists were released from jails without consultation from parliament during previous governments. He condemned the terrorist attack in D.I. Khan and said Pakistan was moving backwards due to poor decisions by the previous governments.
Bilawal said, “We are thankful to the chief justice of Pakistan for taking up the Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto case hearing after 11 years. We have sheer trust in the judiciary. We are optimistic that the judiciary will give the verdict according to the law, constitution, and democracy. We want justice, so no one has to face this kind of tragedy in the future.”
The PPP chairman said their party wanted the development of the state along with a democratic and transparent system. Their party mission was to improve history and the law book by getting justice in ZAB case.
Bilawal said that a cruel decision of hanging a prime minister was made during a dictatorial regime. There had been many prime ministers in the history of Pakistan, but Zulfiqar Bhutto was the one who was a true leader of the people. The dictator of the time, General Zia was the perpetrator in this murder and the very judges who had sworn to provide justice acted as facilitators in this case, in connivance with the lawyers and politicians of the time. Henry Kissinger had said that ‘We will make a horrible example out of you’, but could not hinder Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s relentless pursuit to make this country a great nation. “Shah Faisal and Yasser Arafat took an oath from Ziaul Haq in the Holy Ka’bah to not end Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s life,” said Bilawal.
Bilawal said Bhutto developed the atomic bomb, united the Islamic world, and advocated that oil could be used as a tool of power and influence in the Muslim world.
Chairman Bilawal asked for the support of the audience in the Presidential Reference case, so that history does not repeat itself and injustice is not meted out. No one understands ‘question of law’ better than the lawyers, and they can better interpret this. The ‘question of law’ in this case is whether the court can order someone’s murder. A murder is a murder and demanding for justice is a right.
The other ‘question of law’ is whether a judge can build a dam. The ‘question of law’ is whether a Chief Justice can demolish the homes of the poor for the sake of the ‘old Karachi’. “We have now established that the ‘question of law’ is only pointed out when it comes to giving justice to the Shaheed Quaid-e-Awam. The martyrdom of Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto is a ‘question of law’. A decision that is based on history and the law should be made, which allows for the progress of the country and its people,” he added.
Bilawal criticized the opposition parties, especially the PML-N, and said, “Our supporters are as valuable to us as Mian Sab considers their supporters. I observed how much potential and capabilities we possess during my role as a foreign minister. We have resources, and it depends on us how to utilize them and how to collaborate and stand in the global world,” he said.
PPP chairman said the country had resources. “If other nations could make their countries prosperous, why can’t we?” he questioned.
Terming inflation as one of the country’s biggest issues, he said if different segments of the nation would keep fighting with each other, how the issue would be resolved. He said many issues, including poverty and unemployment, could be solved. But crisis can’t be solved amid political leg-pulling. Politics of hate, prejudice, and arrogance must be shunned to ensure a level playing field for everyone.
Chairman Bilawal said that Imran Khan and the PDM could not solve these problems since they were busy with the same traditional politics of hate and division. “We have to think for the country. The people were falsely promised that they would get millions of jobs and houses. It is the history of the PPP that it always fulfils its promises. The common man could not only survive in a wage of Rs. 35000 but also save. Today, the same family is in need of Rs. 70000. We have a plan to double the income over five years. The people can only prosper when they are given their effort’s worth. If this is not done, then the country cannot progress. We can progress with public-private partnership but we will demand that the private sector invests in the people.
Earlier, 12.5% of the GDP would be dedicated to invest in the people which have since shrunk to merely 2%. Climate change is a jarring issue, we are impacted by floods every year which is why we would need to build climate-resilient infrastructure,” he remarked.
Chairman Bilawal said that the community of lawyers is one which understands matters through a pragmatic and rational lens, hence it is hoped that they support us. It is hoped that we can get the opportunity to interact with the community again, Chairman Bilawal said.
Comments
Comments are closed.