The general secretary of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Jahangir Badar, said on Wednesday that the leadership of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has been losing their political strength in Punjab because it opposed the creation of a Seraiki province.
He was talking at a press conference with other PPP leaders, including Taj Haider, Sharmila Farooqui and Senator Saeed Ghani, at their media cell. He said that the Seraiki province will not be created by an executive order but through proper legislation in the Punjab Assembly.
“Sharif brothers are doing politics of confrontation not only in Punjab, but in Islamabad as well,” he said. “We once again suggest them to avoid this kind of politics which may damage their political career,” he said.
He appealed to Nawaz Sharif to join the PPP in trying to give the rights of people living in South Punjab. “The Punjab government has failed to deliver in the province,” he claimed. “Instead of considering the issues seriously the leaders of PML-N have begun propaganda against us.”
Talking about the judiciary, Badar said that PPP and its leaders also respected the judiciary and had come to the court whenever it called them from ZA Bhutto to Benzair Bhutto and Prime Minister Gilani.
He said that the credit for the reconciliation policy should go to Benazir Bhutto since it was her brainchild. President Zardari has continued her mission despite torture from the operators “who tried to smash his tongue in the jail”. Despite his pain, said Badar, the president forgave all his political rivals.
Replying to a question about the upcoming general elections, Badar said that his party wanted to set a new precedent of holding transparent elections and its example were recent elections in Kashmir.
When asked about former home minister, Dr Zulfiqar Ali Mirza’a affiliation with PPP, Jahangir Badar said, “Mirza is still a member of PPP.” Regarding Lashkari Raisani, a PPP leader from Balochistan, Badar said that Raisani was also a member. “These men have made sacrifices for the party unlike Shah Mehmood Qureshi who ‘accidently’ joined PPP and then left it.”
Published in The Express Tribune, April 26th, 2012.
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PMLN is more sensible than other parties They want division on administrative basis and it is the best solution? Also if that is the case that every region belongs to one language speaker then PPP should say that Karachi belongs to Urdu speakers and Lahore belong to Punjabi speakers as every region must be connected with one dominant language then.
Jehangir Sahib just like ANP demanded that Peshawar is the place for Pakhtoons and this region belongs to Pukhtoons and now PPP is stating that Seraikistan belongs to Seraikis then tell me what will happen if voices will be raised in Karachi and Lahore and Rawalpindi that if these regions belong to only one Ethnicity and one language speakers then Karachi should belong to Urdu Speakers, Lahore and Rawalpindi should belong to Punjabi Speakers and then tell me which region will belong to Pakistanis????. Will this step alienate the people of certain communities or will it bring integration??. Now one Urdu Speaker and Hindko speaker in Peshawar have to say that they are living in Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa or in the lands of Pakhtoons. Now Hazaras of KPK are now like slaves of Pakhtoons as now their identity have been hijacked. Now tell me if Some Punjabi speaker will born in Seraikistan will he would say the same thing that If is living in land of Seraikis and he is like a Slave of some nation??. What type of politics PPP is doing is just like the division of Pakistan and domination of one ethnicity over others. Lahoris and Upper Punjab never discriminate on language and if this trend will continue then Upper Punjab will say that This land belongs to Punjabis then tell me what you will do ??