People remember rosy picture shown by PTI: Bilawal

GILGIT: The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, on Sunday said the government has forgotten about its lofty promises but the masses still remember them. He said the government which came to power through stealing votes is now showing sheer stubbornness and has taken more than a hundred U-turns before the completion of its first hundred days.

Speaking at a rally here, the PPP chairman said members of the ruling party didn’t know anything other than engaging in altercation with opponents. "Consultation, tolerance and parliamentary ethics will not work in 'Naya Pakistan', rather whatever Khan Sahib (PM) would say only that would happen," he lambasted.

Bilawal said his relationship with this valley spanned over three generations and he inherited the love for Gilgit-Baltistan from his mother and grandfather. He vowed to keep struggling for strengthening Pakistan and putting an end to exploitation of masses.

"My struggle is your struggle. This is a struggle for the rule of the people," the PPP chairman said, urging the masses to support him the way they supported former prime ministers Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto. He noted that ZA Bhutto supported the oppressed people of Gilgit-Baltistan.

"The PPP gifted them the Karakoram Highway and subsidy on wheat," Bilawal said. "Shaheed Benazir Bhutto established the Civil Secretariat here and brought judicial reforms," he added.

Criticising the former and incumbent governments in the Centre, he said the former government continued attacking Gilgit-Baltistan's autonomy, whereas a change is being promised nowadays. “Your fund was reduced in the beginning of this change. Rs4 billion were cut from Gilgit-Baltistan fund and 18 projects were ended,” the PPP chairman told the participants.

"The subsidy on wheat was ended and the quantity of flour that previously cost Rs1,200 now costs Rs3,000," he said. Bilawal said the current rulers promised 10 million jobs, but they were depriving the masses of employment. "They promised five million houses, but instead they are razing mud houses and shops," he said.

Bilawal said the economy is headed towards a collapse, while inflation is at its peak. "What kind of 'Naya Pakistan' is this which is taking us to economic downfall," he asked. He said roti is sold for Rs10 and nan for Rs15 in Imran’s Naya Pakistan.

The PPP chairman said he would not let Pakistan become a ‘laboratory’. He said that GB was neglected in China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and added that the PPP will compensate the people after coming into power. –