HYDERABAD: Pakistan Peoples Party-Parliamen­tarians (PPP-P) information secretary Senator Moula Bux Chandio has said that if [the ongoing] accountability pro­cess turned vindictive, then the pace of public protest might accelerate.

“There should be differ­ence between accountability and vengeance,” he stressed while speaking to the media after attending a programme held at the district council lawns here on Thursday to mark the 11th anniversary of Karsaz carnage, in which several hundred participants in former prime minister Benazir Bhutto’s home­coming rally were killed and injured.

Referring to the National Accountability Bureau refer­e­nces and other corruption cases against ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his brother, former Punjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif, Mr Chandio said that the Sharifs were now facing the accountability which they had themselves been making others face during their rule.

“The PPP leadership [in the past] used to tell them to avoid politics of account­ability as they may also have to face the same,” he recalled.

“Now only God can save them [from conviction], given the nature of their cases,” he remarked.

Paying homage to the ‘martyrs of democracy’, Mr Chandio said that [PPP founder chairman] Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was murdered for advocating democracy and his daughter Benazir Bhutto for having won popular support. He, however, stres­sed that there must be trans­parency in the accountability process; it should not become vengeance. He said that if justice was ensured, then nobody would have objection but in the other case, the pace of public protest might accelerate.

Criticising Prime Minister Imran Khan, the senior PPP leader said that while terrorist activities had been at their peak in the country, Mr Khan was engaged in holding public meetings in Fata [Federally Administ­ered Tribal Areas]. He had not uttered a single word against terrorism, Mr Chan­dio added. “Such kind of people are introduced in the system to make people lose their trust in democracy”.

Commenting on the performance of the present government so far, Mr Chandio observed that Mr Khan had not yet fulfilled a single promise he had made to the masses. He said making tall claims and celebrating things were not enough. The prime minister should address the public issues which had already been identified. “People are least concerned about sale of buffaloes and vehicles of former prime minister; or which room of the PM House their prime minister lives in,” he added.

Given performance of PTI government’s 50 days, it appeared that perhaps only the prime minister and a few ministers would be left in that party, he remarked.

He said Mr Khan used to talk about [checking] price hike but he himself pushed up inflation in the country. He said the PTI chairman also used to criticise PPP over drought conditions in Thar but his own party’s governor and ministers were given red carpet welcome amidst Tharis’ thatched houses. “There has to be some sense and ethics on their [PTI’s] part at least; they should be ashamed of it,” he said.

“There is a minister [in the PTI government] who is talking about reducing water supplies to Sindh; it’s not that easy to block water supply to an entire nation,” Mr Chan­dio said.

Addressing participants in the anniversary programme, he said “workers have to avenge murder of Z.A. Bhu­tto collectively. It could be avenged only by providing basic amenities to the masses for which Bhutto had stood”.

Published in Dawn, October 19th, 2018