LARKANA: The chairperson of the PPP-Shaheed Bhutto, Ghinwa Bhutto, has said her party supports operation against terrorists but believes political parleys and military action should go hand in hand.

She said at a press conference at the press club here on Saturday that a military operation against terrorists was a must for peace and security.

She said: “It was sad that we are united over our stand on water, power supply, poverty and unemployment but divided against bad governance and incompetent rulers.”

She said that Imran Khan and Dr Tahirul Qadri were calling for tsunamis and revolutions but they were poles apart. She rejected the apprehension the duo’s political moves might invite intervention of a ‘third force’ and said “no not yet.”

She evaded a question about chances of unification of the Bhutto dynasty and replied: “We don’t work like others. Our party advocates socialism, equality and fight against imperialistic forces, so anyone who agrees to our philosophy is welcome to join us.”

She said the US might be a guarantor of Nawaz Sharif or Asif Zardari but not of democracy.

About the Palestine issue, she said that Pakistan’s response to Gaza carnage came too late. “And we know very well about our country’s relations with both the US and Saudi Arabia. Our government is a friend of the enemies of Palestine,” she added.

She said the old disputes among different actors in Palestine were dying. Hamas and Hizbullah had lent support to each other in the fight against Israel where Iran came to help, she said.

She said the United Nations could not play an effective role while the OIC had become completely irrelevant and helpless. Change in the Middle East was inevitable and in Pakistan as well where people would soon become masters of their destinies, she said.

Published in Dawn, August 3rd , 2014