MIRPUR: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said on Monday that accountability threatened the ‘Raiwind throne’, not democracy.
“Moving from one palace to another palace is not called accountability. Why do you run from courts when your accountability comes under discussion?” Bilawal asked, targeting Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in his address to a public gathering in Mirpur ahead of the general election in Azad Kashmir.
It is pertinent to mention here that Nawaz Sharif will undergo an open-heart surgery in London on Tuesday (today). This has been Nawaz’s second visit to London in less than two months for medical purposes at a time when the controversy over the Panama leaks still continues at home.
In the beginning of his speech, Bilawal asked people to pray for prime minister’s health. “We do not have any personal enmity with anybody. Our every action is in the interest of the country and the nation. Do not take anything personal,” he said. He criticised the prime minister for announcing billions of rupees projects in rallies where people were holding flags of another party.
“Lion does not run on diesel,” the young PPP chairman said, taking a jibe at the prime minister who is seeking support of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman amid the Panama leaks crisis.
Bilawal narrated the story of the oppression his parents faced in different eras and termed it as strict accountability. He said that his mother was exiled and her bank accounts were frozen. He said that his father was put behind the bars for 11 years without any charges in the name of accountability. “Revengeful actions are being taken against the PPP even today. Your government is also holding us accountable by detaining the doctor of former president Asif Ali Zardari,” he said, indirectly pointing to former petroleum minister Dr Asim Hussain’s arrest. He said that he believed in transparency and justice.
Bilawal said that his party would never back off from its historic stance on the Kashmir dispute. “We want peaceful resolution of the Kashmir issue and only a strong Pakistan can support the Kashmir cause on every forum.”
He said that talks with opponents could be held on equal terms. “Kashmir elections are around the corner; these elections are not ordinary, as they will decide the future of Kashmir. The world is keeping an eye on the Kashmir elections because these elections will prove a milestone to shape the future of Kashmir,” he said.
Bilawal said that if the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) wins these elections using its old tactics of “drama and rigging”, it would be as if Kashmiris supported PML-N’s anti-Kashmir and Modi-friendly policies. “Will the Kashmiri people let this happen? Never!” he said
He said the Kashmir cause had no importance for the ruling PML-N. He said that former president Asif Ali Zardari spent the last day of his presidency with Hurriyat leaders at the Kashmir House.
“The PPP has supported talks on all forums but people can’t forget that you did not even mention Kashmiris in your Ufa declaration out of your criminal silence. It was an injustice to the Kashmir cause and a conspiracy against the Kashmiris.”
He said that Zulfikar Ali Bhutto made Pakistan an atomic power because he did not want to see Pakistan becoming Nepal, Bhutan or Sikkim. He called for the resignation of the foreign minister for the country’s disastrous foreign policy. “The demand for PM’s resignation aside, today I demand resignation from the foreign minister as well,” he said and added, “Today our state has drifted towards isolation. India is our adversary. We don’t have the same terms with Afghanistan like we had before. Iran is also not happy with us. Where is our self autonomy?”
He said that drone attacks were being carried out in settled areas of Balochistan and the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects were being made controversial. “We failed to get F-16s from America. Our foreign policy is heading towards destruction,” he deplored.
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