Chairman PPP Bilawal Bhutto Zardari waves to his supporters. PHOTO: INP
The PPP chairman while addressing a pre-election rally in Rawalakot, some 120 kilometres off the capital of the Azad Kashmir region, appealed to the United Nations to resolve the contentious issue as per the wishes of the Kashmiri people to bring peace to the disputed Himalayan valley.
“We demand the world community to give the right of self-determination to the people of Indian-administered Kashmir. If a referendum can be held in Scotland, then why not in Kashmir,” asked Bilawal, referring to last year’s vote to seek independence for Scotland from the UK.
The PPP chairman also questioned the silence of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on the latest spate of violence in the valley triggered by the murder of a Kashmiri youth by the Indian army, terming it “unfortunate”.
“After four days of bloodshed in Kashmir, Nawaz Sharif finally issued a statement on the situation,” he lamented, adding the premier had done nothing during the past three years except establishing offshore companies.
“Mian sahib has no interest in the importance of education because steel is not used in production of books,” Bilawal said while taking a jibe at the Sharif family’s business of steel. “The PM is more a businessman than a leader.”
The PPP chief accused the Sharif brothers of launching megaprojects to earn money through kickbacks, alleging the PML-N government had failed to add a single megawatt of electricity to the national grid in the past three years.
“Gwadar Port, China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, Pakistan-Iran gas pipeline, Benazir Income Support Programme and Waseela-e-Rozgar are all projects of the PPP,” he said. “What have you done for the nation Mian Sahib, except earning a commission on LNG?”
Bilawal said the Sindh government provided 50,000 jobs to the youth while the PML-N in Punjab had pushed farmers against the wall.
He added that supporting the PML-N in the upcoming elections in the AJK would be akin to endorsing the Nawaz-Modi friendship.
Bilawal calls Mirwaiz
Earlier in Islamabad, the PPP chairman telephoned All Parties Hurriyat Conference leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and condoled with him on the killing of innocent Kashmiris at the hands of Indian security forces.
A statement issued by the PPP media cell said Bilawal condemned the Indian atrocities in the strongest possible words, assuring the APHC leader that his party would continue to support Kashmiris by raising its voice.
Bilawal later directed the PPP workers to hold a protest demonstrations against the highhandedness of Indian forces in Kashmir in front of press clubs in every city of Pakistan on Friday to express solidarity with the Kashmiri people.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 15th, 2016.
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