Ahead of electoral battle: PPP slams PML-N’s ‘dictatorial’ mindset after AJK melee

Bilawal, Zardari accuse ruling party of sending armed thugs to disrupt other parties’ political gatherings

MUZAFFARABAD/ ISLAMABAD/ KARACHI:

The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leadership has condemned the killing of one of its workers in a clash with a rival political group in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) on Saturday.

At least one PPP worker was killed and four others were injured in the clash with activists from the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) in the Nakyal area of Kotli district, some 215 kilometres from Muzaffarabad.

According to police reports, the clash took place on the grounds of Government College Nakyal, where PPP workers had been preparing for a rally scheduled for the same day. Activists of the PML-N arrived at the venue and pelted the PPP workers with stones, killing Chaudhry Muhammad Munshi and wounding four others.

Reacting to the incident, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari accused the PML-N of resorting to ‘dictatorial tactics’. In a strongly worded statement, he said the ruling party had “let loose armed goons to mount murderous attacks on PPP gatherings ahead of the general elections.”



He called on Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to ‘bridle’ his ministers and restrain them from promoting violence and use of lethal weapons against opponents. “You [Nawaz] will be responsible for the consequences otherwise,” the PPP chairman warned.

He also demanded the perpetrators of the violence be brought to justice.

Bilawal’s father, former president and Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians President Asif Ali Zardari also accused the PML-N of having a ‘dictatorial mindset’ while condemning the incident.

“It has become a norm for the PML-N to kill opposition. This shows the dictatorial mindset of the [ruling] party’s leadership,” he said in a statement.

“Several PML-N leaders have been delivering hateful speeches against the PPP during their visits to Kashmir for some time now. The storming of a PPP convention today seems to be a result of this,” he added.

The former president asked the AJK government to compile and release a detailed report on the incident. He also called on the state’s authorities to book the culprits behind the attack as soon as possible.

Both Bilawal and Zardari expressed sympathies with the family of the deceased and said such ‘supreme sacrifices’ will not go to waste.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 14^th, 2016.