KARACHI: Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto has said the People’s Government will fight with all determination to eliminate poverty and exploitation from the country. “No force on earth can deter us from marching ahead to attain this goal,” he told the people of Ibrahim Hyderi at an “open kutchery” yesterday morning [Jan 13]. … The Prime Minister said he realised the difficulties of the masses but it was not possible to solve all the problems in two years’ time.

Similarly, Mr Bhutto said poverty could not be eliminated overnight. “But we have fought against it with all our strength, and we will continue to fight against poverty. …” Mr Bhut­­to called upon the people not to be misled by the propaganda of his opponents. … Rising pri­­ces … [were] a natural phenomenon and … almost all countries were having this problem these days. … The Prime Minister said the pre­­sent Government had fought against big capitalists, imperialists and big feudal lords “because ours is a party of the poor and shall remain so.” Mr Bhutto said the present Gov­ernment also fought against bureaucracy, and carried out reforms in this connection. “We want to root out corruption but it cannot be wiped out in one day.”­ — News agencies

Published in Dawn, January 14th, 2024