Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, on Sunday, accused the Imran Khan-led government of dismissing the people of Balochistan in the newly prepared route of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
He claimed that the new route will deprive the Baloch people of their share of the advantages promised by the project.
QUETTA, December 15: Chairman Pakistan People's Party (PPP) Bilawal Bhutto Zardari addressed the Workers' Convention here on Sunday. President PPP Balochistan Ali Madad Jatak and other party leaders were also present. https://t.co/6S8ZzYJB44 pic.twitter.com/XS93SMVYD0
— Abdul Nabi Khoso (@A_NabiKhoso) December 15, 2019
Balochistan deprived of CPEC
Addressing a PPP worker’s rally in Quetta, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said, “We introduced revolutionary projects for the people of Balochistan, including CPEC. Former President Asif Ali Zardari had the vision of introducing the route from the most downtrodden areas of the country, including Balochistan and FATA.”
“I regret that the route has been changed, and instead, of Balochistan, the project has begun from Lahore and Sindh.”
Bilawal said that the PPP wants the people of Balochistan to reap their share of benefits from CPEC, however, he lamented that the “incompetent and unqualified, puppet government” has failed in securing these benefits.
Read more: Bilawal threatens the state: Will Sindh card work for PPP?
The PPP chairman claimed, “Only the PPP is competent, and remains the only party to have successfully delivered the benefits of a project to the residents of the area where the project is launched.” Bilawal cited the example of Thar and claimed that the Thar coal power project has allowed the women of Thar Desert to seek employment in a wide range of fields, as truck drivers and civil engineers.
Citing other achievements of the PPP in Sindh, Bilawal added, “The coal produced in Sindh is used in the power plants across Faisalabad.”
Bilawal observed that Balochistan is the most resourceful and naturally endowed province of Pakistan, and claimed that only the PPP can assure that its resources benefit its residents, the “people of Balochistan”.
Power being stolen from People
Bilawal claimed that given the ongoing political climate, it is “obvious that power is being snatched from the people, and passed onto the selected and the selectors.” He said that the economy is not being run to benefit the people, but in fact, it is running for the benefit of the “selected and the selectors.”
The PPP Chairman alleged, “We are not being ruled by our representatives, but the selected and their selectors.” Bilawal questioned that while the interviews of members of proscribed organizations and RAW agent Kulbhushan Jadhav can be aired, why is former President Asif Ali Zardari barred from sitting for a televised interview?
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari says people of Balochistan had been deprived from reaping the benefits of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) https://t.co/IPZbSmlzru
— The Express Tribune (@etribune) December 16, 2019
Criticizing the incumbent government, Bilawal said, “Pakistan is the only country in the world where many people can go missing and the state is never at fault.” He alleged that the “selected prime minister” is not only “stealing” the resources that belong to the provinces, but is also burdening the people with his “incompetence.”
The PPP Chairman said, “He who had made promises of giving 5 million homes and 10 million jobs is now seen snatching job opportunities and roofs in the name of encroachment.” He accused the government of leading farmers towards “economic suicide” by depriving them of subsidies.
Under-aged Politician
In a response to Bilawal’s tirade of accusations, Dr. Firdous Ashiq Awan, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Information, termed the PPP Chairman as an “underaged politician”. She observed that while Bilawal adores referring to Prime Minister Imran Khan as a puppet, he is blissfully “unaware of the number of puppets within his own party, whose strings are being pulled.”
Read more: Tabdeeli in Balochistan: Missing persons return to their homes
Questioning the vision of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, as underscored by Bilawal in his address in Quetta, Dr. Firdous said that “If Bhutto continues to live, the poor people are dead.”
She said, “If Bhutto’s vision was indeed alive, these wealth worshipers would not be struggling against the law in the manner in which they are squirming from accountability.”