DNA

Chitral/Islamabad, NOV 22: Chairman Pakistan Peoples Party, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari addressing a workers’ convention in Chitral said that he is grateful to the Party’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Chitral organisations for holding such a successful gathering. The PPP will continue its determined efforts and win the elections.

Chitral is not just the name of a place, but that of a family. It is the place from where the Mother of Democracy, Begum Nusrat Bhutto was elected. Chitral is not my second, but my first home, Chairman Bilawal said. Paying tribute to the women of Chitral, Chairman Bilawal said that they are carrying the mission of Begum Nusrat Bhutto and Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto forward. This region is faced with a plethora of problems, for which the PPP has all the solutions. For three generations, the PPP is combatting poverty, unemployment and inflation. It was only during the eras of Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto that the youth of Chitral was provided with employment opportunities. Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, an unarmed woman was able to face not one, but two dictators because she had the support of her brothers from Chitral.

Chairman Bilawal said that he wishes to help rid the people of this suffering, but it is apparent with the way that the country is being run that the traditional manner of doing politics will only exacerbate the pain faced by the people. Only with pure intentions can one solve problems. Pakistan is a country with unparalleled potential. The intentions of the other parties, be it the PML-N or the PTI, wish to carry out their personal vendetta against each other after coming to power. During the unity government, we had intended to help the country emerge from the crises faced by the people. We were unsuccessful in doing so because our allies were fixated on personal revenge. This is why the targets we had set were not achieved. This is why we have been demanding our traditional politicians to rest. This demand is not ours alone, but that of the youth which consists of 70 percent of the country’s population. “We have been taught to respect our elders and are not disrespectful like the PTI. Our qualm with traditional politicians is not their age, but the same old politics that has destroyed the country in the past seven decades”, Chairman Bilawal said. Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto was the youngest PM at the time in the Islamic world. The decisions made by other political parties suffer through short-sightedness, and the burden is carried by the people.

We aim to establish a ‘rule of the people’, Chairman Bilawal said. It is solely the prerogative of the people to decide their representatives and who gets to govern them, no one else’s. Chairman PPP expressed his gratitude for the loyalty Chitral has shown for three generations. The arrow will he vicious on all three seats in Chitral, proving once again that the people of Chitral are not only loyal, but honourable and still standing with Quaid-e-Awam Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. We will complete the incomplete mission of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto. The gift of the wheat subsidy given to the people of Chitral by Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto will be restored permanently, Chairman Bilawal resolved. The same will be done for former FATA and PATA which will be made into tax-free zones on a permanent basis. We will show Afghanistan how we are making efforts for the progress of the former FATA and PATA.

We are not only contesting the elections on slogans, but performance and character. Chairman Bilawal said that he represented the country internationally as its youngest foreign minister, while establishing hospitals meeting international standards in every district of Sindh. Former KP PPP president, Humayun Khan had gotten free health treatment from NICVD Sukkur. Shazi Khan, PPP’s General Secretary of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa went to London for treatment, but was told that he should receive it from Karachi. If we can make free-of-cost hospitals in the desert of Thar, we can do the same in the mountains of Chitral. Why do the people of Chitral not get employment opportunities that are proportionate to their abilities, with them having one of the highest literacy rates in the province? The PPP will surely rectify this in the near future. We will establish roads that will allow for Chitral to be connected to China, Afghanistan and the rest of Central Asia. It is a difficult feat to achieve, but we will turn this dream into a reality. We can utilise the riverine power of the region so that it produces its own energy. We will keep a special quota in the Benazir Income Support Programme for regions like Chitral so that the most deserving people are facilitated. It is unfortunate that during the catastrophic floods, most of the affected regions of the country were neglected. Only one province was cooperative, which was Sindh, and we are now building two million homes there while giving ownership to the women of the household as a means of empowering them. They now have an asset to their name which has empowered them financially. We intend to extend this programme to the rest of the country, not only for flood victims but those living in slums.

We only consider poverty, unemployment and inflation our opponent. We are restlessly waiting for the elections to take place. We are asking for an opportunity from the people to help us change the destiny of Chitral, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and all of Pakistan. Chairman Bilawal said that he wants a Jiyala to be the CM in Peshawar. It is imperative for us to have a government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to fulfil the dreams that we have seen for the people and make unprecedented progress in the health and education sectors, Chairman PPP said. Those who are engaging in traditional politics have already started making claims that they will make changes in the 18th Amendment and NFC award. They wish to snatch the rights of the people of Chitral and give them to Islamabad instead. The 18th Amendment has not even been properly implemented in its true spirit yet. The ministries that are currently in Islamabad, and wrongly so, will be shut and reopen in their proper locations so that the money of the people is spent of them only. One hundred billion rupees can be saved annually if we implement the 18th Amendment in its true sense. We will save this amount and spend it on our elders, for their health treatments as well as the young and their education. We will make a budget that incorporates the ‘Kissan’ and ‘Mazdoor’ card to help the downtrodden.

“When given the opportunity, I will be able to solve all the problems faced by Chitral”, Chairman Bilawal resolved. The people of Chitral have demanded that Aseefa Bhutto Zardari contests from Chitral, and it will be conveyed to her. We will convince her to contest the elections from this constituency that is akin family. We cannot rest till February 8 and go to every doorstep and convey the message of the Pakistan Peoples Party. “I wish to serve the women and elders of Chitral as their son. I want my brothers to work with me and become my strength”, Chairman PPP said. Chitral is the region of Jiyalas and the arrow will be triumphant.