Bhutto wanted to unite Muslim world, says Malik

Malik said PPP chairman was not a child but a kinetic young man who had endured great hardship at a tender age

LAHORE:

Former interior minister Rehman Malik said on Wednesday that former prime ministers Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Yusuf Raza Gillani were victims of judicial miscarriages.

Malik made the remarks while addressing an event organised by the People’s Lawyers’ Forum in connection with the 88th birth anniversary of former prime minister Bhutto. The former interior minister said the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) founder had strived to unite the Muslim world. He said western powers and tried to decimate his ideology with the cooperation of forces in Pakistan. However, Malik said, Bhutto’s ideology had remained alive in the hearts of disadvantaged Pakistanis.

He said the story of the Bhuttos was a tale of martyrdom that could not be relegated. Malik said PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto was not a child but a kinetic young man who had endured great hardship at a tender age. Rapping the government, he said the PPP had never even had to publicise its great achievements. Malik said the party had never been interested in publicity. Commenting on Pakistan-India ties, the former interior minister said that India could never be a friend of the nation. He said the nation would have to remain vigilant vis-à-vis its enemies. Malik also rejected claims of Pakistani involvement in the Pathankot airbase attacks. He counselled Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to check his autocratic tendencies and desist from levelling uncorroborated allegations against Pakistan.  PPP Punjab president Manzoor Wattoo, PLF Punjab president Khurram Latif Khosa and LHCBA president Pir Masood Chishti were also among those who spoke at the event.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 8^th, 2016.