Judges doing everything but justice, says Bilawal

KARACHI: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said on Sunday that he condemned all the police encounters across the country, adding that the trend was not the solution to anything.

The PPP chairman was addressing the inauguration ceremony for the campaign of party memberships in Karachi.

Talking about the Naqeebullah case, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said that suspended senior superintendent of police (SSP) Rao Anwar should have a fair trial in the Naqeebullah Mehsud probe.

The PPP chairperson argued that he condemned ‘police encounters’, however, the police official had the right to a fair trial. He said that the PPP alone could not bring positive changes and the people of Karachi needed to vote for the party to bring reforms.

The PPP chief said that the PPP wished to make Pakistan a peaceful and developed country. He also demanded that the Senate elections should be held on time.

While talking about Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan, the PPP chairman said that Khan invariably divided the opposition at every level and that he weakened a joint opposition.

Furthermore, Bilawal said, “Former president Asif Ali Zardari is a ‘hunter of the lions’.” Bilawal claimed that ousted premier Nawaz Sharif would never nominate Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif as a candidate for the position of prime minister.

PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto criticised the state of the judicial system in the country and said justice was suffering. “Judges are doing everything except provision of justice,” he added.

In a tweet, he said that the judiciary needed reforms, giving an example of how the Law Reforms Commission, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar, had never met since 2015 while under the rules the committee has to meet four times a year.

Launching the membership drive, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari invited all the progressive Pakistanis, especially the youth and women, to fill the membership form and join the ideology working for a peaceful, progressive and prosperous Pakistan.

Bilawal said the membership campaign would be conducted door-to-door, through camps and also by utilisation of modern communication technology of internet and cellular modes. “Our website (www.pppmember.com) and SMS number (03000643353) will also offer membership options to reach out to the Pakistanis, whose massive majority was against extremism and politics of hatred,” he said.

The PPP chairman said that membership drive had been designed to reduce gap between him and the workers, adding that following the successful completion of the drive, he would be able to communicate directly with the workers and members through modern communication means. He further said that the party would make a list of members through a website.

Bilawal said that the party workers would be able to lodge a complaint against the party leaders through the website.

Bilawal Bhutto said that the PPP launched the Benazir Income Support Programme in the Centre and now the Sindh government had started anti-poverty programme at union council levels, where lending of interest-free loans to rural poor, especially the women, had pulled 600,000 families out of poverty in some districts. “The 18th amendment, devolution of powers and the NFC Award were also enacted in a bid to discourage extremism and promote democratic values,” he added.

He said: “Under the philosophy of service-oriented politics, we have provided state-of-the-art health facilities, including free heart treatment at four satellite hospitals of NICVD in Hyderabad, Tando Mohammad, Larkana and Sehwan Sharif.”

He called upon the people of Pakistan, especially the youth, to join the service-oriented positive politics in entire Pakistan and show the doors to politics of negativity and insults being promoted by the parties fighting for a particular area of GT Road.