‘Constant failure of regime to protect people’s life, property’

ISLAMABAD: PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari while condemning the violence in Lahore and other parts of the country questioned that why did the ‘selected’ government not implement the National Action Plan (NAP) and why it was not bringing the issues before Parliament.

Bilawal also expressed grief over the loss of lives, including those of policemen and said it was direct result of the PTI government’s inability to tackle the situation peacefully.

“The shedding of human blood and incitement to violence was never the answer to any situation because history tells us that violence only begets violence,” he said in a statement Monday. He said the real fight is about fighting against the root of the pestering problem, not in just responding to the symptoms.

“Why has the selected government not bothered to implement the National Action Plan, or even discuss arising challenges in Parliament,” he added. He pointed out that the tendency to foster and coddle pressure groups by fanning ethnic, religious and sectarian hatred had begun during Zia’s regime, to squeeze mainstream national political parties.

Bilawal said this dictatorial tool continues to be used even today as an operational lever to reduce the size of mainstream political parties, as more and more “Frankensteins” are being midwifed to curb the democratic aspirations of the people of Pakistan.

“In the same context that is painfully clear that we have failed to understand that no one can consistently play with fire without getting burnt themselves,” he said. The PPP chairman said his party had been on the frontlines of resisting any discourse or action that promoted violence or extremism since its inception.

He said for this, the party and its leadership, including Shaheed Benazir Bhutto have paid a heavy price. “It is distressing therefore to witness how the “selected” were allowed to attack government properties, occupy government offices in Islamabad and hold the government hostage since 2013,” he further added. Today, he said the same modus operandi is being replicated to further destroy the system.

He said he is very clear that the state is responsible for protecting people, and a serial failure of the current selected regime to fulfill this responsibility has dragged the country into unprecedented chaos and anarchy, exposing both the population and state to risks that are incalculable. He said in any situation, the law must be the only factor to prevail and to that effect all issues should be addressed through constitutional mechanisms instead of resorting to more violence.