SUKKUR: Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto declared at Kandhkot … this morning [Jan 31] that from now onwards Wadera Shahi would not be allowed to suck the blood of the poor. Addressing a huge gathering at an open kutchery … the Prime Minister also declared that the cruel perpetrators of ‘Zulum’ on the poor did not have any place in his party, nor could such people be his friends. “We do not care for the cruel, howsoever big he might be. We care only for the poor,” he declared.

Prime Minister Bhutto said that his party’s fundamental principle, on which his Government was now based, was that “the people are the real sovereigns, the real strength of the country”. The Prime Minister declared that his Government would strive … to weed out corruption and thefts. “I am not going to spare for a moment any corrupt official or officials, who failed to check the incidence of theft. …” The Prime Minister disclosed that his Government had prepared a master plan for counteracting waterlogging. … [He said] that he was touring … the interior in the service of the people. “I have not come here to enjoy parties, take tea, enjoy partridges, but I have come to serve you.”

Published in Dawn, February 1st, 2024