KARACHI: PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has said that some people do not like to see him in politics and advise him to address the Oct 18 public meeting through video link because he is a target of extremists.

Addressing on the first day of Eidul Azha a gathering of family members of people killed in the 2007 Karsaz blast, he called upon MQM chief Altaf Hussain to ask his ‘unknown’ persons to be careful and warned that if any of his workers was hurt he would, like the London Metropolitan Police, make his life miserable.

He said the PPP had rendered sacrifices more than any other party in the country. He said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif might have suffered in exile but did not sacrifice even a ‘kitten’.

Similarly, he added, Imran Khan had sacrificed his marriage to become “prime minister of Pervez Musharraf” but did not render any sacrifice for democracy.

Living day and night in containers was not a sacrifice, he said, adding that the PTI chief could not get himself called a martyr by ‘cutting a finger’. “Khan Sahib, politics is not a game; if one wants to learn politics he should learn it from Bhutto. If we want to learn cricket, we will approach you.”

Bilawal Bhutto warned Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif to stop his ‘ideological’ colleagues, the terrorists who had been sheltered, from entering Sindh; otherwise his government would collapse.

Addressing Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, he said: Chaudhry Sahib, don’t try to become prime minister by sidelining the existing one; you should pay attention to the job given to you by the nation. Providing security to every citizen is your responsibility.”

Bilawal Bhutto said he was being advised not to address the public meetings because the situation was not favourable and asked why the situation was always against the PPP. “I am grandson of Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and son of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto and above all a Pakistani citizen; taking part in politics is my democratic and constitutional right. Let me see who stops me from taking part in politics?”

He said he was determined to practise the politics of democracy and sacrifice.

He said he would address people at the mausoleum of Quaid-i-Azam on Oct 18 to accomplish the incomplete mission of her mother. Thousands of people will provide him security.

“PPP lovers, Bhuttos’ devotees and Shaheed Bibi’s Jiyalas want the Sindh government to protect us,” he said.

He also urged the Sindh governor to ask Rangers to provide them security.

Referring to the narratives of family politics, he said: “Yes, PPP indulges in family politics and will continue to do so. Our Quaid has taught us that PPP is a family – a Bhutto family... I am a Bhutto, you are also Bhutto; we are all Bhuttos. The next prime minister would also be a Bhutto.”

M.B. Kalhoro adds from Larkana: Bilawal Bhutto, who plans to contest the next election from NA-207 Larkana, said he wanted the people to elect him with 100 per cent vote like they had done for her mother Benazir Bhutto.

Talking to the party’s MNAs, MPAs and workers from Larkana and Qambar-Shahdadkot at Naudero House on Wednesday, he said that like her mother he had come here to meet workers on Eid days.

He was briefed on the arrangements for the Oct 18 public meeting in Karachi.

Faryal Talpur, Ramesh Lal, Ayaz Soomro, Nazeer Bughio, Nisar Ahmed Khuhro, Khursheed Junejo, Mohammad Ali Bhutto, Agha Siraj Durrani, Nadir Magsi, Aamir Magsi, Sardar Khan Chandio, Ghulam Mujtaza Isran and other party leaders attended the meeting.

Bilawal said workers were the backbone of the party and it was his responsibility to protect them. The PPP believes in serving the downtrodden.

He also met leaders of the PPP’s Naudero chapter and praised the work done by them to strengthen the party. According to sources, he asked the party’s legislators to lead the caravans to the Oct 18 meeting. Party workers from Larkana have been given the task of ensuring security of the stage.

Later, he visited the Garhi Khuda Bakhsh graveyard for the martyrs. He offered Fateha and laid floral wreaths on the graves.

He also visited the Bhutto mausoleum, offered Fateha and laid wreaths on the graves of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Benazir Bhutto, Begum Nusrat Bhutto, Mir Shahnawaz and Mir Murtaza.

Bilawal also visited the Arab Pir’s graveyard in Waleed village where he offered Fateha and laid wreaths on the grave of Begum Ashraf Abbasi, the first woman deputy speaker of the National Assembly.

According to the sources, no member of the Abbasi family accompanied him during the visit to the village and he flew back to Karachi without meeting them.

Haji Munwar Ali Abbasi, former PPP MPA, told Dawn that they had not been informed about the visit. “We only heard that a VIP is visiting the area and security arrangements were being made. Had we been officially informed about Mr Bilawal’s visit, we would have surely met him because he is son of Benazir Bhutto,” he explained.

Published in Dawn, October 9th, 2014

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