RAHIM YAR KHAN: President Asif Ali Zardari says it is the duty of a leader to fight and go to jail to protect the party and safeguard people.

He was addressing party ticket-holders, office-bearers and workers at Jamaldinwali, 40km from here, on Saturday night.

Without naming PTI leader Imran Khan, the president said they had already started complaining about condition in jail hardly after 18-month detention.

“Sometimes they say they have pain in their eyes. Some other time they complain there is no milk.”

He said such a leader could not make sacrifices and lacked courage.

Zardari said he himself spent 14 years in jail, endured hardships but never lost courage.

“Jail is a place for worship, and prayers of those who worship are answered.”

He advised political workers that they should not fear arrests. He pledged that he would work to build and improve Pakistan and would not step down until his mission was fulfilled.

Zardari predicted that one day the Pakistan People’s Party would win with a two-third majority and make Bilawal prime minister.

About privatisation, he said: “The country belongs to people and that national assets should not be sold.”

The president landed at the Shaikh Zayed airport in the afternoon and left for Jamaldinwali, the native area of PPP South Punjab leader Makhdoom Ahmad Mahmood, where he will stay for two more days.

Published in Dawn, February 15th, 2026