Screengrab from the interview.
“I think we have exhausted the option of [peace] talks,” stated Chairperson of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Bilawal Bhutto Zardari while speaking to BBC's Lyse Doucet in an interview about talks with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
He added that the national consensus to hold peace talks that was built had been squandered by politicians who used “this is America’s war” as an excuse to "hide their cowardice".
Bilawal remarked that the politicians of the country were “confusing the nation on purpose because they are scared.”
He called for all the political parties to unite against the threat imposed by the TTP.
“I want to eradicate the Taliban from Pakistan,” stated the PPP chairperson, further adding that the attacks by TTP were not just confined to North Waziristan.
“They have been attacking us in Karachi.”
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Joining politics
When asked by Doucet about entering politics, Bilawal stated, “I didn’t have ambitions for politics but now when I’m here in my country and I see the state of my country I just feel like I want to play some role, any role I can.”
He added that his aim is the 2018 elections, further stating that he does not want to start at the top but wants to “focus on party politics...work with the grass roots with every level of the party across the country.”
Expressing concerns about the dangers of politics he said that “politics is a deadly and dangerous game. I have seen my mother [former prime minister Benazir Bhutto] bury her brothers.”
Face of Pakistan
When Doucet remarked that Pakistan is a country that people fear, the patron-in chief of PPP said that “the face of Pakistan should not be [al Qaeda leader] Osama bin Laden or the terrorists who murder us on a daily basis. It should be the face of those heroes who stand up to them and give this country hope.”
“This country is full of hope not fear. It is the Shaheed Muharma Benazir Bhutto who stands up to the Taliban and says that we fight you,” Bilawal further stated, taking a positive spin on the image of Pakistan.
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