Imran govt forcing people to commit suicide: Bilawal

PESHAWAR: Paying rich tributes to the services of Shaheed Zulfikar Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto at the 54th Foundation Day function, Pakistan People's Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Tuesday reiterated his commitment to continue the struggle for restoration of a true democracy in the country and rejected government's move to introduce electronic voting machines (EVMs) terming it Part-II of the Results Transmission System.

Addressing a well-attended public meeting in the provincial capital, Bilawal Bhutto, in his 45-minute speech, recalled that Zulfikar Ali Bhutto had established the PPP to liberate the people from the clutches of the dictatorship 54 years back. "Today, the same anti-people policies of the 'selected and inefficient' rulers have made the life of the poor people miserable,” he added. He said the people would have to stand up against the policies of the rulers that are tormenting the common man and for a better future of the country, where the people could make decisions on their own. The prime minister will not be get away to KSA, he said. He added: “Those accusing Mohtarma Benazir of being a thief stand accused in the dock now.” Alluding to the Sharifs, Bilawal said tapes of those who influenced judges to award harsher punishments to Benazir are surfacing now.”

Enumerating the achievements of the PPP government, he said his party was still following the same policies and it would continue to do so in future instead of making tall claims. He said that the PPP government provided jobs to people, cash to the poor women through the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP), increased the salaries of government employees and pension of ageing pensioners but the selected rulers snatched rights from the people.

Coming down hard on the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government for striking an anti-people deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Bilawal Bhutto said the rich were becoming richer while the poor were getting poorer with each passing day. Prime Minister Imran Khan had promised to commit suicide rather than going to the IMF, but now his government has forced the poor to commit suicide. Posing a question, the PPP chairman asked for how long the poor labourers, peasants, pensioners and middle-class people would continue to suffer due to the flawed economic policies of rulers. Rejecting the government-IMF deal, Bilawal Bhutto said the government had failed to solve the problems of the people, saying they had rejected the policies of the incumbent government. The parliament, he said, had not approved the ‘illegal’ IMF deal. He maintained that under this deal, the State Bank of Pakistan would not be answerable to parliament and to any court.

Bilawal Bhutto rejected the government’s move to introduce electronic voting machines (EVMs) and termed it Part-II of the Results Transmission System (RTS). The PPP, he said, wanted free and fair elections. He said their lawyers were preparing a legal case to oppose such decisions of the government and would resist it on roads. He said his party would not allow the rulers to play with the destiny of the nation through such conspiracies. “The PPP wants separate elections for overseas Pakistanis so that their representatives could represent their voters in the parliament instead of allowing rulers to manipulate the election,” he added. He said it was Zulfikar Ali Bhutto who provided opportunities to overseas Pakistanis to work in foreign countries. Holding the election through the EVMs was not in the interest of the country, he said, adding, his party would not allow the rulers to ruin the system and deprive the people of their rights. “We will ensure true representation of people and overseas Pakistanis,” he added.

Bilawal said Imran Khan, who was taking credit for saying “absolutely not”, was bent upon issuing an NRO to Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav at all costs without taking the parliament into confidence. The PPP, he said, would oppose such moves in the courts and roads. Paying tributes to martyrs who laid down lives in the war against terrorism, he came down hard on the rulers for holding negotiation with terrorists and killers of Pakistanis. He asked the rulers as to who authorised them to hold negotiations with the killers of Pakistanis without even taking the parliament into confidence. Bilawal said that the president and foreign minister had informed the nation about their secret negotiations with terrorists. “Who are you to hold negotiations with killers of Pakistanis and who has empowered you to talk to them and what are your TORs,” he asked, adding the selected rulers should have known the procedure for such talks. Ridiculing the conditions set by the terrorists for talks, he said the people follow Islamic system in Pakistan and Islam does not allow killing of innocent men, women and children. He said they wanted strict punishment for the killers of Muslims. The people had witnessed the true face of the champions of the so-called change, he added.

PPP’s central leaders, including Syed Khursheed Shah, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, Syed Nayyar Hussain Bukhari, Qamar Zaman Kaira, Nisar Khoro, Najmuddin Khan and others also spoke on the occasion. The activists from Sindh, Punjab, Balochistan, Gilgit-Baltistan, Kashmir and other parts of the country attended the function with tri-colour PPP flags, banners and caps. The emotionally-charged workers chanted slogans in favour of their party and leadership and termed the meeting a referendum against the government.