BAHAWALPUR: Addressing by far the biggest public meeting of his tour, President Ayub said here today [Oct 21] that Miss Fatima Jinnah, combined opposition’s Presidential candidate, had criticised every government since the death of the Quaid-i-Azam. So much so that she even did not spare the popular Government of Quaid-i-Millat Liaquat Ali Khan.

The President said that Miss Jinnah perhaps considered Pakistan her Miras (personal property). She thought that by right she was the only successor to the Quaid-i-Azam and that she should have been pitch-forked as the Governor General. Pakistan, the President said, was nobody’s Miras. It was the Miras of every Pakistani and all have equal rights and privileges in this country, the President declared amidst thunderous applause.

In his frank and straightforward manner, President Ayub reminded the people how the country had become the laughing stock in the pre-Revolution days and how high was Pakistan’s prestige today. By all standards it was the biggest public meeting of the President’s current election tour. The famous Dring Stadium was jam-packed. Many people had climbed over trees and the adjoining roads were blocked.

Published in Dawn, October 22nd, 2014