–PPP chairman says all accused, be it Musharraf or terrorists, should be arrested and proceeded against according to law
–Says PPP will merge FATA with KP when it comes into power
BANNU: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said on Saturday that all accused, be they terrorists or former military ruler General (r) Pervez Musharraf, must be treated alike according to the law of the land.
“Be it Musharraf or terrorists, all should be arrested, cases should be registered and culprits should be penalised in accordance to the law of the land,” he said while addressing a party rally here.
“Terrorists can only be punished by enforcing the law,” he added.
Commenting on Naqeebullah Mehsud’s extrajudicial murder in Karachi, the PPP chairman said terrorism can never be defeated if ‘abduction of people and targeted killings’ continued. “This is not the matter of Naqeebullah shaheed only, but the entire nation,” he remarked.
“We need institutions that ensure the supremacy of law… terrorism cannot be uprooted by the deployment of force only. We cannot deploy military in every street and corner of the country,” he stated.
Bilawal held the military regimes of the past responsible for escalation of extremism, saying terrorism cannot be eliminated until the extremism was addressed through methodical changes in the education curriculum.
Lashing out at chief of his own faction of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) Fazlur Rehman, the PPP chairman said that his party will merge the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) into KP despite Fazlur Rehman’s strong opposition.
Lamenting the loss of FATA’s beauty, the PPP chief said that the ‘valley of scents had turned into the valley of blood’.
“What enmity Fazlur Rehman bears against the people of FATA and why is he violating their basic human right,” Bilawal questioned.
Taking a broadside at Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan, he said the former had what it takes to be crowned at the ‘global fair of liars’.
“Wherever the PTI chairman goes, he makes tall claims of ridding the KP off corruption. Whereas, in reality he only knows how to utter profanities and take U-turns,” said Bilawal, adding that Imran Khan has been out of sorts ever since his ATMs were disqualified by the apex court.
He stated that his party has a long-standing relation with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and that the brave people of KP have been fighting and offering sacrifices in the war against terrorism since a long time.
Paying tribute to the long standing sacrifices of the people of KP in the fight against terrorism, he stated that the valley of fragrance has been turned into one of blood.
Bilawal said it was his party that brought together the entire parliament and united people for the sake of sustainable peace in Swat that was taken over by terrorists soon after Benazir Bhutto’s martyrdom.
Bilawal said that the time had come to show the province’s ruling party that the public had seen its real face.
In a clear reference to Nawaz Sharif, Bilawal stressed that the public was not concerned about why political leaders were disqualified from public office but wanted the government to solve their basic issues.
