Pakistan Peoples Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said on Sunday that Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman could help stop terrorism and help resolve the situation created by governor’s rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). His remarks were made at an event in Karachi marking the anniversary of the Karsaz tragedy.
The Karsaz attack took place on October 18, 2007, when twin bomb blasts hit a procession welcoming former prime minister Benazir Bhutto back to Karachi after eight years abroad in self-imposed exile. More than 180 people were killed and hundreds were wounded. Bilawal said the tragedy would never be forgotten and described it as a painful chapter in the sacrifices made for democracy.
Bilawal urges Fazl to condemn terrorist attacks
Bilawal asked the JUI-F leader to speak out openly against terrorist activity. He pointed out that JUI-F members had also been killed in terrorist attacks. According to Bilawal, the cleric could not deny that terrorism existed in Balochistan and KP.
The PPP chairman also took aim at KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, whom he said had become dysfunctional under the emergency measures. Bilawal claimed the provincial chief executive had been unwilling to cooperate with the federal government and was not prepared to confront militancy. He said the PPP was ready to fight the menace.
Emergency rule and calls for talks in KP
Bilawal said both houses of parliament should work together against terrorism and that the fight would continue until militants were eliminated. “We will collectively confront terrorists,” he said, adding that the armed forces were making sacrifices for the country’s security.
He said the government had been forced to impose emergency measures because of the security situation, and he urged political parties not to criticise counterterrorism steps without considering the challenges the country faces. Bilawal added that his party had always used constitutional and legal means when imposing emergency measures. The federal government had declared emergency in KP on October 11, after President Asif Ali Zardari approved the move on the advice of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif under Articles 232 and 234 of the Constitution.
The PPP chairman invited the opposition to hold talks with the government if it genuinely wanted to end both terrorism and the emergency in KP. He also said the federal government had decided to set up an electoral reforms committee and invited opposition parties to take part in its work. Although the PPP is not part of the federal government, Bilawal said, it was trying to deliver on its manifesto.
Naqvi’s remarks on a politician’s frustration
Bilawal’s comments followed criticism by Maulana Fazl of the federal government over the emergency and governor’s rule in KP. Earlier on Friday, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi claimed that the head of a political party was “deeply upset” at not receiving the KP governorship or a role in the governor’s rule setup. Naqvi did not name the politician.
Speaking informally to journalists in Lahore, Naqvi claimed the politician had relied on the establishment’s backing for decades to stay in politics. He also said such politicians should stop pointing fingers at others and should instead voice differences through arguments and facts rather than “indecent language and accusations”.
