• PPP chairman accuses a party of promoting ‘Zionist politics’ in Sindh
• Challenges ‘system has failed’ narrative, cites Tharparkar’s ‘development’
• Claims Thar coal project saving up to $1.6bn in foreign exchange annually

MITHI: PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said on Monday that a political party comprising “political orphans” was “busy doing politics of hate, division and Zionism in Karachi”, without naming anyone.

“You must have heard of Zionism… Israel’s policies in Palestine. But these people want to introduce that same brand of politics in Sindh. I want to tell them clearly: they will never succeed,” he added.

Addressing a ceremony in Tharparkar to inaugurate Phase III of the Thar Coal Project’s Block II, the PPP chairman rejected claims that the country’s system had collapsed, saying the development of Tharparkar demonstrated its success.

According to the press release issued by Bilawal House’s Media Cell, he said the district’s development was an “archetype of the success” of the country’s system, the 1973 Constitution and the 18th Amendment.

He argued that those who claimed the system had collapsed should hand Islam­abad over to the people of Tharparkar.

Criticising calls for the creation of new provinces and claims that the country’s system had collapsed, the PPP chairman said: “I don’t get this logic at all, but if we accept it for a moment, it means that Islamabad has failed. Hand Islamabad over to the people of Tharparkar; they will fix it.”

‘Tharparkar’s success’

He noted that the development achieved in Tharparkar demonstrated the effectiveness of the country’s system and the 18th Constitutional Amendment.

He said whenever the Medical and Dental College Admission Test (MDCAT) results were announced, Thar’s children topped the list and it had now become a tradition.

However, he added that the elements pursuing the politics of hatred and division in Karachi, instead of applauding and congratulating Thar’s children on their achievements, continued their divisive politics.

“God willing, we will bury their politics of hatred, and Thar, and Thar’s children, will keep moving forward.”

He also took a dig at the federal government, saying: “The students of Islamabad can also top all the exams. We have seen the condition of its hospitals; we can make them free and upgrade them to international standards.”

Mr Bhutto-Zardari said the progress he had witnessed in the region was unmatched elsewhere in Pakistan. “Not only have its infrastructure, health and education systems improved, but there has been progress in all aspects rather than just changes.”

He said Thar’s development had surprised people across the country. “People are unable to digest its development.”

The PPP chairman suggested that Islamabad should follow Tharparkar’s example and also hailed the development achieved in the district through the public-private partnership model.

Coal power

“Today, Thar is generating 14 per cent of the national grid’s electricity and also the cheapest.”

He criticised experts in Islamabad who had previously claimed that Thar’s coal was useless and that investing in it would be futile. “Today we are saving up to $1.6 billion of Pakistan’s foreign reserves due to the Thar Coal Project.”

The PPP chairman further said the project had also created significant employment opportunities for people in Sindh, noting that “94pc of employees of this project belong to Sindh, and 60pc of them hail from Thar district”.

He recalled that as foreign minister, he had brought Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to Thar for the project’s second phase, when the premier had requested an increase in the area’s production capacity. Since then, he said, Thar’s production capacity had doubled, with further increases planned.

Inviting Sindh’s business community, the PPP chairman said the same public-private partnership model that had brought such major transformation to Tharparkar could be extended to Karachi and other parts of Sindh.

Published in Dawn, October 6th, 2026