MULTAN: PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari says that an ideology cannot be wiped out by killing the individuals following it.

Addressing a public gathering at Bahawalpur bypass here on Monday, Bilawal said people who thought that an ideology could be eliminated by killing individuals had been proved wrong as the PPP was still standing and will continue to do so.

He further denounced the district administration for stopping his procession despite granting permission earlier.

“The way we have been welcomed from Karachi to Multan is proof that no one can stop us. From pelting stones in Karachi to creating obstacles on our way to Uch Sharif and Multan, we cannot be stopped from moving forward,” he added.

The PPP leader said he was running his first election campaign and not doing politics of abuses, instead his party had come up with a people-friendly manifesto, which was geared towards the welfare of farmers, labourers and people in general.

“The issues of the masses have been addressed in our manifesto as, if any party wants to move forward, it should highlight these issues. We have to fight unemployment and deprivation besides providing free medical treatment and education,” he went on to explain.

He also said that the late PPP founder chairman Zulfikar Ali Bhutto distributed land of feudals among landless farmers as the party believed that progress of a country lay in the progress of its farmers.

“We will introduce Benazir Kisan Cards and enrol them for provision of loans and subsidy besides insuring their crops,” he said.

Bilawal claimed that 60 per cent of the country’s population was suffering from malnutrition that his party will target by initiating ‘Bhook Mitao Programme’ under which food stores will be opened across the country that will be run by women. The PPP always built houses for the homeless and after coming to power more would be constructed particularly for the youth, he further claimed.

He said that poverty was a major issue the country was facing and the PPP had always focused on it. “We initiated Benazir Income Support Programme and will double its scope after coming to power. Besides this, we launched a poverty-reduction programme in Sindh under which we extended loans to women and over 0.8 million families are reaping its benefits.”

He also promised to create a separate ministry with the objective of generating jobs for the youth. “I am out to complete the unfinished mission of Benazir Bhutto and save the country. The mission of Benazir was to solve the problems of the masses, which is my mission too,” he added.

The PPP chairman said if the party could give recognition to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, get the 18th amendment passed and approve NFC Award, it could also accord recognition to the Seraiki belt [and create a separate province out of it] and solve its issues.

“Multan gave us a PPP loyalist like Yousaf Raza Gilani, who being the prime minister initiated a number of development projects in the city,” he further said. Bilawal asked the people to vote for the PPP candidates in Multan.

Later, the procession left for Shujabad where Bilawal was scheduled to address another gathering. Meanwhile, City Police Officer Munir Masood Marth denied that the PPP’s procession was stopped anywhere in the district.

Published in Dawn, July 10th, 2018