LAHORE: In a warning to the PTI leadership, PPP Central Punjab General Secretary Syed Hassan Murtaza declared that his party would no longer turn the other cheek, vowing that any further character assassination would be met with a forceful response.

Addressing a press conference here on Tuesday, Murtaza — without naming the PTI founder — said, “You need wisdom more than eyesight. Leave eyesight and go for wisdom; your problems will be solved.”

In a pointed remark, he added that just as the Rangers had “fixed the leg problem,” vision too was returning after President Asif Ali Zardari’s speech.

He accused the PTI of unleashing a wave of online abuse against the PPP leadership and warned that this was the party’s last press conference exercising restraint.

“After this, we will not be apologetic. We will respond to every scandal circulating on social media,” he said.

Murtaza stressed that the PPP’s political training, shaped by Benazir Bhutto, was rooted in tolerance and decency. However, he termed attacks on party leadership unbearable while appreciating Bakhtawar Bhutto for deleting a controversial tweet, calling it the difference between responsible leadership and anarchic thinking.

The PPP leader lashed out at, what he described, as a culture of abuse in politics, saying the PPP had endured imprisonment, torture and public persecution for democratic change but would not tolerate character assassination of its leaders or institutions, including the Pakistan Army.

Murtaza also criticised rising hostility on social media, alleging that anonymous PTI-linked accounts were being operated from abroad.

“Abuse will now be answered with abuse, and stone with stone,” he warned.

At the same time, he urged the government to ease hardships of the public during Ramazan and reconsider the recent increase in petroleum prices.

Other PPP leaders, including Ayesha Nawaz Chaudhry and Ahsan Rizvi, echoed his remarks, asserting that the party would defend its leadership vigorously against a sustained smear campaign.

Published in Dawn, February 18th, 2026