MITHI: Speaking at a big public gathering in Nagarparkar on Saturday, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) urged the people of the desert region to vote for the PPP candidates, including Qasim Siraj Soomro and Pir Noor Mohammad Shah Jilani, from Thar for their better and safe future. He promised that the PPP would change the fate of the Tharis after coming into power.

He said his slain mother loved the people of Thar so much that she named her daughter Bakhtawar after peasant leader Mai Bakhtawar and the Tharis in return nicknamed her the ‘Marvi of Malir’ after a part of the Thar region.

Bilawal said that despite the threats and obstructions he visited various parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab and got a huge response from the lovers of his grandfather, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. He said he was not in favour of getting power by hook or by crook, but was struggling for the rights of the people by taking part in active politics. He said Z.A. Bhutto had not only got freed over 90,000 army men held in India, but also retrieved the occupied parts of Thar from the Indians.

Pledges to change Tharis’ fate if PPP elected to power

He said that it was his mother’s dream that Thar would change and he hoped the huge reserves of coal would change whole Thar as well as Pakistan in the near future. He said both former chief ministers — Syed Qaim Ali Shah and Syed Murad Ali Shah — did their best for Sindh and Thar. The PPP chairman said the PPP had announced a new manifesto, which contained important points to bring about a revolution in the country.

Poverty reduction plan

He added that the PPP after coming into power would first try to reduce poverty by issuing ‘food cards’ to deserving people and would launch a poverty reduction programme to provide food at subsided rates. He said the PPP government would set up food centres in every union council so that the poor could overcome malnutrition and hunger during droughts.

He said the construction of an airport near Islamkot town was a great effort of the PPP government, which was boosting business and tourism in Thar.

He deplored the rivals’ “hypocrisy” that on one hand they boasted of ending corruption while on the other they awarded party tickets to a former chief minister and others who were kicked out of power over corruption. He said that their opponents were opening the doors of their party to those involved in forced conversions in Sindh and making alliances with leaders of proscribed organisations.

‘Conspiracy’ over BISP

Bilawal said that nobody would be allowed to amend the Constitution to deprive the deserving women of stipends under the Benazir Bhutto Income Support Programme (BISP). “Those conspiring to deprive women of their stipends will have to face stiff resistance from the PPP members in the assemblies,” he said. He warned that any move to tinker with constitutional clauses, including the 18th Amendment, to deprive poor women would be resisted. He asked the people to reject such people in the elections.

He alleged that those fighting elections against the PPP were the supporters of the controversial water reservoirs and dismantling of Sindh. He warned that the water issue of the country could only be resolved through consensus under the 1990 water accord among the federating units.

He vowed to foil all “conspiracies being hatched” against the Constitution and the country, adding that those “puppets” being given a leg-up against the PPP had no vision to lead the people of the country. He said he would continue his efforts even after the general election. “We have a long way to fight for the bright future of the country,” he remarked.

He said the PPP leaders were not afraid of any threat and the alliances of “puppets”, adding that only the PPP could steer the country out of the current morass.

The PPP chairman said he had stepped into politics to accomplish the unfulfilled dreams of his mother to make Pakistan a prosperous country when she was the prime minister.

He said the PPP government during the last 10 years worked sincerely and with great commitment for development in the desert region. He asked the people to vote for PPP candidates not only in the Thar region but in the whole province and the country for their better future. He said the people of the province would totally reject those who had formed “fake” alliances just to sneak into the power corridors from the backdoor as they had done in the past against the PPP.

The PPP chairman said that the PPP government besides carrying out the mega projects in Thar Coalfield made the dream of power generation from Thar’s coal reserves true, adding that the Tharis were not only provided with free wheat but were also provided with clean drinking water through RO plants by the previous Sindh government.

He asked the people to reject the GDA and other alliances and “political orphans” and vote for the PPP candidates on July 25.

Murad Ali Shah

Former chief minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, who accompanied the party chairman, in his speech said that no power could prevent the people of Thar and the rest of the province from voting for the PPP, adding that the PPP government in Sindh spent huge amounts on various schemes to provide a relief operation in Thar and hoped that the Tharis would help the party win all candidates in the district.

He said the PPP government also constructed the roads in Thar to give access to the people of the remote villages. Murad Shah urged the people of Thar to vote for them if they wanted to be served selflessly by PPP leaders.

Murad Shah said the PPP also established a modern hospital for heart disease in Mithi so that people did not have to be moved to big cities for their medical check-ups. He said the PPP had already become very strong in Thar after Arbab Ameer Hassan and Arbab Lutuf had joined them last year. He said the people of Thar had a right on the coal reserves and those living in the various blocks would be given shares as per the policy of the previous PPP government.

The PPP candidate on PS-55, Qasim Siraj Soomro, said the GDA and PTI candidates would be given a humiliating defeat in the Thar region as they were humiliated by the Tharis in the 2013 elections. He alleged that the opponents of the PPP in Thar were using tactics to dupe the public. He said he believed in politics of decency. He said that more dams would be built to store rainwater flowing down from the Karoonjhar hilltops during rainfall.

Senator Krishna Kumari in her speech said the PPP after coming into power would put more focus on the issues of Thar and Parkar areas.

PPP leader from Chhachhro Ali Akbar Rahimoon, who had submitted his nomination forms as an independent candidate, announced to retire in favour of Mr Soomro during the public gathering.

Published in Dawn, July 22nd, 2018