Bilawal finds fault with govt’s censorship policy

PPP chairman says his party to fight for freedom of expression in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD/SHABQADAR: [fbvideo link=" https://www.facebook.com/etribune/videos/465680910655914/"][/fbvideo]

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto has condemned the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government’s ‘censorship policy’ and said in the country interviews of spies and terrorists can be aired but not that of a former president or people of tribal areas.

“Here interviews of convicted Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav and a dictator [General Pervez Musharraf] are allowed to be aired on national TV but interviews of the former president Asif Ali Zardari and youth of tribal districts are banned,” Bilawal said on Thursday.

The PPP chairman was addressing a workers’ convention at Bab-e-Mohmand in Shabqadar area of Charsadda. He was accompanied by the party’s Khyber Pakhtunkwa (K-P) leadership.

Bilawal, who is on his K-P visit, will also address workers convention in Peshawar, DI Khan and Lower Dir ahead of the provincial assembly election in the newly merged tribal districts of the province on July 20.

He said his party would fight for freedom of expression in Pakistan. “Today our rights are at stake: thousands of people are missing but one cannot talk about the missing persons’ issue.”

He claimed that Prime Minister Imran Khan wants to introduce presidential form of government and One-Unit by abridging provincial rights. “Today we have no political rights; no human rights; and no economic rights. The nation should unite to safeguard their rights under the banner of the PPP.”

The PPP leader also criticized the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and said the polls supervisory body should act like ‘election commission’ not ‘selection commission’.

Govt wants to distract masses by arresting political opponents: Bilawal

He said ahead of the provincial assembly polls in the tribal districts only the PTI has the freedom to run an electoral campaign while the other parties are facing restrictions in the name of Section 144.

He asked the chief election commissioner if voters would be allowed to make queue for voting on the polling day. He called upon the ECP to perform a neutral role in election.

Bilawal also rejected the federal budget 2019-20 and, calling it anti-people, urged people to fight for their democratic and human rights, which, he said, have been stolen by the PTI government.

He said the ‘Awam Dushman’ budget was made on the instructions of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). “The present ‘selected’ government, which came into power without common men’s vote, has passed the budget in the same way in absence of opposition.”

He said in the budget rates of daily use commodity have been raised tremendously and today the blood is cheaper than bread due to the Tsunami of inflation.  The PPP chief said once the PM had said he would commit suicide but would not go to the IMF but today the entire nation has been rented out to the IMF.

He called upon the participants to reject anti-Pakhtun, anti-K-P and anti-Pakistan budget.

He compared the healthcare policy of the K-P with Sindh province, where the PPP rules, and said today Sindh offers free treatment for all major diseases including heart, kidney and liver ailments.

“The last PPP government [in the Centre] ensured provincial autonomy via the 18th constitutional amendment and today the K-P has more budget than in the past due to this provincial autonomy.

He rejected the federal government’s claim that Sindh is not willing to grant 3% in the National Finance Commission (NFC) award to tribal district and said the PPP raised tribal districts budget to 500%.

“If the PTI government has courage it must raise this budget to 1,000% instead of spreading propaganda against other provinces,” he said. Bilawal accused the Centre of creating misunderstanding among provinces to get more share for Islamabad.

He said although former tribal areas are producing electricity they don’t get electricity just like Balochstan which has great reservoirs of gas but many areas of which are without gas.

He urged the tribal people to vote for the PPP in the upcoming polls in tribal districts for the K-P Assembly seats. “Our candidates are clean but poor while the PTI’s ticket holders are drug smugglers, extortionists and abductors.”