–PPP chief says will launch ‘food cards’ to rid country of hunger
–Says Lyari stone-pelting incident was a conspiracy by political opponents
THATTA: A day after Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari’s convoy had to be routed after being pelted with stones in Karachi’s Lyari locality, the party’s young leader on Monday vowed that he would now himself resolve issues of the people.
Speaking to supporters in Gharo city of Thatta district, the PPP chief said that they had presented their manifesto, noting that the party initiated revolutionary programmes like the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP).
“PPP has always served the people and now I will myself resolve public issues,” he vowed.
“We will provide food cards to masses, through which they will get subsidised food.”
Bilawal told the participants that he needed their support and urged them to “become his arms.”
“I want to change the fate of the country, and if the people are with us, then no one can stop us,” he said.
The Bhutto scion said that eliminating hunger was part of their manifesto. “We will open food centres in every area, which will be run by women.”
Undeterred by the mob attack on his caravan a day earlier during his electoral rally in Lyari, Bilawal hit the city’s roads once again early Monday.
“PPP does not believe in the politics of violence,” the PPP chairman said, as he stepped out of his car en route to interior Sindh to address supporters.
“My warm welcome in Lyari did not go down well with opposing parties,” he added.
Speaking to supporters in Quaidabad, the Bhutto scion said that stones were pelted at his rally on Sunday under a conspiracy.
After Sindh, Bilawal will campaign in southern Punjab and then on to the rest of the country.
A detailed travel log of the PPP chief is yet to be issued by the party.
CARETAKER GOVT FAILED TO SECURE BILAWAL:
Meanwhile, the PPP has criticised the interim government for failing to protect electoral candidates and maintaining order in the run-up to elections.
Bilawal’s spokesman Senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar said in a statement that the “onus of protecting the candidate and ensuring that peace prevails falls upon the caretaker setup. They failed in their responsibility to do so”.
Khokhar alleged that the law enforcement agencies (LEAs) “refused to act and stood as mere bystanders”. He also questioned the role of Sindh Rangers for not intervening during the incident.
Blaming the media for ‘misreporting’ the protest, he asserted that the PPP believed it was a deliberate attempt “to create an atmosphere of fear” ahead of elections. “Our workers showed immense restraint despite great provocation. Forces of violence and political parties that thrive on conflict tried their best to deter us but failed spectacularly.”
“The media blackout is an indication that only negative stories related to the PPP are being played up,” claimed the spokesperson. “An environment is being created to benefit one ‘ladla’ party,” he said alluding to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.
In its statement, the party stressed that only a ‘handful’ attempted to disrupt the rally in a ‘designed’ episode. “There is a difference between peaceful protest and stone pelting,” said the spokesperson for Bilawal House.
However, Sindh Caretaker Information Minister Jameel Yusuf has rubbished allegations levelled against him by the party’s leadership.
“I strongly condemn the use of violence and it clearly comes under the purview of an act of terrorism,” Yusuf added.
He added that there is no condoning such an act of violence.
