HYDERABAD: Pakistan Peo­ples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has said that his party stands for equal rights for the people of Pakistan irrespective of caste, creed and colour and it is for this reason that the Sindh cabinet has several non-Muslim members, which is not the case in other provinces.

He was talking to journalists after cutting a Diwali cake in Shiv Temple in Tando Mohammad Khan on Thursday. He said PPP’s parliamentarians in the lower and upper houses were from religious minorities’ too. He stated that Sindh Assembly had adopted a Hindu marriage bill, but the governor did not give his assent to it; it would be tabled again in the assembly. It was PPP’s historic step for the religious minority, he added.

About the indictment of Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz, he said accountability was part of democracy without which democracy could not function.

He expressed his disappointment over the state of country’s economy, saying that it looked like an economic emergency. The PPP would ensure equitable distribution of resources in the country to put economy on the right track, he added.He foresees an Asghar Khan-like future for Imran Khan and said he worked against women’s rights while the PPP stood for their rights, which was evident from pro-women legislation done in Sindh.

He said Imran Khan had supported the referendum of Musharraf, who was involved in Benazir Bhutto’s assassination, and this was the main reason for PPP’s ideological, and not personal, differences with him.

About the PTI chairman’s corruption mantra, the PPP chairman remarked that PTI’s own assembly members spilled the beans about malpractice, adding that Ayesha Gulalai also levelled allegations of corruption and moral nature.

He said real followers of the PPP and Z.A. Bhutto were still with him, but opportunists had left. He said the problem of water contamination affected the whole of Pakistan, but the PPP was committed to ensure provision of clean water to people from River Indus.

He said water filter plants schemes were approved in Tando Mohammad Khan, which would soon be executed.

He maintained the PPP government was focussing on the health sector. In future, he said, the PPP would keep providing quality health services to people. He said better health services were provided in Larkana also and a hospital was today inaugurated in Tando Mohammad Khan.

Earlier, he inaugurated Benazir Bhutto Cardiac Hospital in Tando Mohammad Khan. Local MNA Syed Naveed Qamar, Senator Aajiz Dhamra, MPAs Ejaz Shah Bukhari and Abdul Karim Soomro, PPP district chairman Syed Zeeshan Shah and others were also present.

Bilawal had an overnight stay at the residence of MPA Sharjeel Inam Memon and landed at Hyderabad Club through helicopter. Before leaving for Tando Mohammad Khan, he visited the residence of PPP Parliamentarians central information secretary Maula Bux Chandio in Qasimabad.

He also went to the house of Hyderabad PPP district president Saghir Qureshi to condole the death of his father-in-law. In the presence of Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, Mr Qureshi briefed Bilawal on the need of development works in Hyderabad.

The CM said he was aware of the issues of development that were confronting Hyderabad and the government would accordingly take them up.

Published in Dawn, October 20th, 2017