KARACHI: Chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, on Friday said he was declaring jihad (holy war) against “hijackers of the faith”, DawnNews reported.

Addressing his supporters at Karachi’s Karsaz on the occasion of the sixth anniversary of the Oct 18, 2007 bomb blasts that killed 176 people during a historic rally led by Benazir Bhutto, Bilawal promised supporters that he would fight for the people.

The PPP chairman said that on Oct 18, the Taliban had used a child in the suicide attack on the rally led by his mother on her return from Dubai.

He said the PPP was a party of jiyalas (zealots), adding that it had given numerous sacrifices on several occasions.

Speaking at the site of the attack amid cheer from party supporters, Bilawal said he had "sacrificed” his childhood and his mother for the country.

During the address, he said Karachi still remained “a colony of London” and pledged that his party would “rescue the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from the tsunami”.

He laid a floral wreath at the memorial of those killed in the Karsaz bombing and offered prayers for the victims.

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah, PPP leader Mian Raza Rabbani and various other party leaders were also present on the occasion.

Bilawal then headed to the mausoleum of Abdullah Shah Ghazi to pay his respects.

Rumours brushed aside

Speaking to Dawn.com, Hashim Sheikh, political secretary to Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, brushed aside rumors that Bilawal will take part in a by-election before 2018.

He said that Bilawal will later decide whether to stand for a National Assembly seat from NA 203 or NA 204.

During the previous few days there has been speculation as to whether Bilawal will stand for an MNA seat in by-polls.

Additional reporting by Asif Mehmood