News
Saturday, October 19, 2013
Bilawal launches verbal onslaught on rival parties
* PPP chairman declares ‘jihad’ against religious extremists
KARACHI: In a war of words that spilled over from the online world, Pakistan People’s Party’s (PPP) patron-in-chief Bilawal Bhutto Zardari declared on Friday that his party was not like that of “cowardly” Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan, and that it has always rendered great sacrifices for the sake of democracy and the country.
Bilawal was speaking on the anniversary of the 2007 attack on Benazir Bhutto’s caravan on Karsaz Road that had killed at least 180 people. Addressing the ceremony, he termed the PPP as the party of martyrs. In an emotional address, he lashed out at the PML-N, PTI and MQM, the major three parties of the country. Targeting the ruling party, Bilawal promised that the PPP would hunt the lion (symbol of PML-N) in the next elections and Asif Zardari would be the president again.
Referring to the attack on a church in Peshawar that killed at least 78 people and injured over 100 others on September 21, the young Bilawal told a charged crowd of supporters that Imran Khan “stood outside the church and made excuses for the terrorists who were responsible for the attack”. “PPP will save the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from drowning in the tsunami,” Bilawal claimed. Criticising the MQM indirectly, Bilawal said that Karachi, the powerhouse of MQM, is still a colony of London.
The PPP patron-in-chief also said that his is a party of “courageous and martyred” leaders, and is not afraid of terrorists. Commenting on the May 2013 general elections, he said the PPP had given a lot of sacrifices to win the 2007 elections, but in the recent elections the party gave up its seats to protect its members. “In the 2018 elections, Asif Ali Zardari will be jiyalas’ bow and I will be the arrow,” he stated.
Bilawal also said that the PPP had “saved Islamabad” from Mohammad Sikander, the man who was responsible for the almost six-hour-long standoff on the Constitution Avenue on August 15. The stand-off had ended when PPP leader Zamrud Khan had approached the gunman and tried to grab him after which the police shot and arrested Sikander.
Bilawal assured the general public that he would fight for them and give his life for them. He said that if someone had lost his brother or son to acts of terrorism then from today onward, he would be their brother or son. He declared a “jihad” against religious extremists, saying, “Sindh will once again be PPP’s stronghold”. The PPP chairman said that on October 18, the Taliban had used a child in the suicide attack on the rally led by his mother on her return from Dubai.
He said the PPP was a party of jiyalas, and that it had given numerous sacrifices on several occasions. Bilawal said he had “sacrificed” his childhood and his mother for the country. Earlier, the young PPP chairman laid a floral wreath at the memorial of those people who were killed in the Karsaz bombing and offered prayers for the victims. Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah, PPP leader Mian Raza Rabbani and various other party leaders were also present on the occasion. Bilawal then headed to the mausoleum of Abdullah Shah Ghazi to pay his respects. online
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk