PPP to continue struggle for ending rights violations, says Bilawal

Pakistan Peoples Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has said his party will continue to stand up as a strong voice for upholding human rights and put up stiff resistance to violations anywhere.

In his message on the eve of International Human Rights Day being observed today under the United Nations umbrella, he said on Friday that his party considered human rights as inalienable in any kind of situation or condition.

Imprisonments, solitary confinements, lashes and even the gallows could not force the PPP leadership and workers to go on the back foot in its struggle for basic human rights, democracy and equal opportunities for all, Bilawal added.

He pointed out that there was no political prisoner during the previous PPP regime, but Nawaz Sharif’s rule had worsened the situation, especially against weak segments like women and minorities, as their human rights were being violated with impunity.

The PPP was taking up the rights violations by the Nawaz government and his interior minister in the parliament and would hold them accountable before the elected houses of the people of Pakistan, he stated.

He said his party would protect the basic human rights of all the citizens without any discrimination and would not tolerate any violation, whether by the government or by individuals. In fact, all the legislation meant for safeguarding human rights in the country had been initiated, sponsored or overwhelmingly supported by PPP and “we are proud of that”, he added.

Bilawal condemned the cruel atrocities against the people of Indian-held Kashmir by Indian occupation forces and urged the United Nations to grill India for indulging in such horrible violations of fundamental human rights in the occupied valley despite its being a signatory to the Universal Human Rights Declaration.