LARKANA: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, upon his return to Naudero House on Thursday received a briefing from the party’s focal persons on Covid-19 in Larkana and Qambar-Shahdadkot districts.

The focal persons, Sindh Minister for Irrigation Sohail Anwar Siyal and MPA Burhan Chandio, apprised him of the measures so far taken to stop spread of the pandemic in their respective districts.

Mr Bhutto-Zardari also held meetings with members of various committees formed by the party leadership for the purpose.

Describing the situation arising out of the coronavirus infection in the country as a crisis, he asked people to follow government’s instructions regarding lockdown and social distancing to effectively fight and defeat the pandemic. He said the entire world was currently passing through a critical time. “Our preference is to save lives”, he added.

Meanwhile, in a statement issued on Thursday, the PPP chairman strongly condemned abusive Twitter trends targeting prominent journalists. “These trends are nothing but another attempt at silencing critics and giving a message to the rest of the media to stay silent or face the consequences,” he said.

The statement said: “If the federal government and PTI social media teams focused as hard on corona[virus] awareness as they do on trolling dissenting voices, it would be a far better use of time and resources in these difficult times.” According to Mr Bhutto-Zardari, in these extraordinary times, the country needs a unifying response to the unprecedented challenge posed by the coronavirus pandemic.

“We cannot afford and must avoid divisive politics and settling of political scores at this critical juncture. Media plays an important part in a democratic dispensation the world over; media has held governments accountable for their response to one of the worst crises in recent human history. For those who think media can be bullied into submission must also remember that journalists in Pakistan have a long history of resistance to injustice and tyranny,” said the PPP chairman.

Published in Dawn, April 3rd, 2020