National

We aren’t the ones to run away, says Bilawal

December 28, 2018

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LARKANA: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, while reacting to government’s decision of placing his name on the no-fly list alongside his father, aunt and others, said on Friday that they were “not the ones to run away”.

The PPP chief said this during his visit to a church on Friday. He was accompanied by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s youngest daughter and his aunt, Sanam Bhutto, with whom he jointly cut a cake to mark Christmas.

Bilawal said, “We are not scared of the Exit Control List (ECL) and notices. We are not the ones to run away, but we are those who sacrifice their blood. Puppets will run away but not Bhuttos.”

He said that the joint investigation team’s (JIT) report was false and consisted of a bundle of lies. He also said that his father, Asif Ali Zardari, was put behind bars for 11 years, but “even then we did not run away.” He further said that if Zardari is arrested, the party will contest the case through legal means.

Bilawal said that his party would support the parliament if it amends the National Accountability

Bureau (NAB) law and called for across-the-board accountability. “National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) is for dictators, Jahangir Khan Tareen, Aleema Khan and PCO judges but vendetta is only for opponents.”

Bilawal said that party leaders neither wanted an NRO nor would they seek it, adding “we would take up issues in and outside the parliament and launch a struggle for democracy and the people”. He said that no forward bloc would be created in PPP and such blocks were only made in the minds of their opponents.

He said that a “puppet government” intended to encroach upon the 18th Amendment and resources of the province. “There is an ongoing conspiracy to establish one unit in the country and we are being pressurised for compromise but I cannot commit treachery with the graves and vision of the martyred Bhuttos,” he added. Bilawal said that under the present circumstances, the centre is being weakened.

Reaffirming his support for the Sindh chief executive, he said, “We have full confidence in Syed Murad Ali Shah who is the finest chief minister.”

Bilawal further said that PPP had always worked for the promotion of religious harmony.

Bilawal and Sanam were given traditional gifts of Sindhi Ajrak by the Christian community on their arrival. PPP Sindh President Nisar Ahmed Khuhro, MNA Khurshid Junejo, Lal Chand Akrani and others were also present on the occasion.