PPP, Asif Zardari not responsible for change in Balochistan govt: Bilawal

Ag Agencies

KARACHI: Pakistan People's Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said on Monday that the PPP or Asif Ali Zardari had no role in changing the Balochistan government. The PPP chairperson said: “In the next general elections, the PPP will dominate the Balochistan Assembly because Balochistan is yearning to have a national-level party to lead.”

He said the Sindh government is working on introducing an awareness programme on child sexual abuse as part of the school curriculum. We are working on this curriculum since 2009, the chairperson said while addressing a press conference at the Bilawal House adding the information included in the programme is child friendly and culturally appropriate. We worked with ulema, teachers, parents and NGOs to develop the curriculum, Bilawal said. We cannot fight child abuse if our children don't know how to protect themselves, he said. All political parties should be on the same page pertaining to children rights, he added. Bilawal said the children should know how to protect themselves, their health and body.

On the Kasur tragedy, Bilawal said previously people were scared to speak about it but now people are no more scared of speaking out. When asked about the punishment in child abuse cases, Bilawal remarked that punishment is necessary but it will not bring any change unless there is education and awareness.

About Policing, Bilwal said “there should be an element of accountability for the force as well,” he said. “We are also working on police reforms,” the PPP Chairman said he wanted to see a reformed police force in the country, adding he is quite satisfied with the performance of the Sindh Police. “Police however, should not be politicised, but checks and balances are necessary," he said.

Talking about declaration of personal assets, the PPP chairman said he would declare all of his assets when he would contest elections. “Imran Khan did not fully declare his assets. He talked about different assets in various elections and declared other sources of income in the Supreme Court,” Bilawal concluded.

He remarked that the Sindh government is making all out efforts to adopt life-skills-based education in the curriculum across 200 schools of the province. He said the life-skills-based education curriculum was adopted at the Fatima Jinnah Government School and it showed positive results.

The PPP chairperson was joined by singer and education activist Shehzad Roy who through his nonprofit Zindagi Trust is heavily involved in revitalising the Sindh school curriculum Addressing the media, Roy said have adopted over 200 government schools since the inception of the Zindagi Trust. We introduced the awareness programmes regarding child rights and child sexual abuse in government sch ools in 2009. At first parents were doubtful, the activist added. But they gradually realised how beneficial the programme was, Roy added. It is important to teach the children about "inappropriate touching and behaviour" from both strangers and relatives, he cautioned. More than that it is crucial to teach children, what to do and how to talk about an incident if they become a victim, he added.