PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto on Tuesday launched a train ‘march’ dubbed “Caravan-i-Bhutto” from Karachi to Larkana in connection with the 40th death anniversary of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.
According to PPP Sindh president Nisar Khuhro, the march is part of the PPP’s attempts at launching a mass contact campaign with a power show on ZAB’s death anniversary.
The party’s chairman will travel from Karachi to Larkana, making brief stopovers along the way at Rohri, Sukkur and Habib Kot, where he will address workers, Khuhro said earlier this week.
In Larkana, a public meeting will take place in Garhi Khuda Bakhsh Bhutto where all arrangements have been made to facilitate participants. Bilawal and party co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, along with other central and provincial leaders, will address the gathering.
PPP chairman says NAB was formed to help run ‘selected governments’
Bilawal, at a stop in Landhi, criticized his political opponents, saying that the ruling regime doesn’t tolerate the opposition and its criticism.
He alleged that police force was used against party workers in Punjab, adding that PPP candidates were not allowed to run their election campaigns in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He alleged that the “worst-ever rigging” in history took place in the 2018 General Election.
He said that late former premier and party founder Zulfikar Ali Bhutto sacrificed his life, but did not take a U-turn.
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto sacrificed his life but did not take a U-turn
“On April 4, it is the 40th death anniversary of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. I am travelling from Karachi to Larkana and hope all of you will also reach Garhi Khudha Baksh,” he said.
“We will give the world a message that Bhutto is still alive and present for democracy.”
Bilawal said that Bhutto sacrificed his life, but the late former premier did not take a U-turn. The remark was an obvious hit at Prime Minister Imran Khan, who has in the past said that taking a U-turn to reach one’s objective was the “hallmark of great leadership.”
Similar remarks followed during a stop in Hyderabad.
“Whatever they could not achieve through rigging, they have now set out to achieve it through NAB. We do not object to accountability. We believe that when fair accountability takes place, democracy is further strengthened. “But we do not accept political vengeance and political engineering under the guise of accountability,” said Bilawal. Upon reaching Kotri Station, the PPP chairman alleged that the rulers of the country were conspiring through “NAB “, adding that the anti-graft body was formed to help run “selected governments”.
“We have seen Zia’s dictatorship, we are not scared of this government,” he said. Bilawal later paid a tribute to late party founder by reciting a poem in his honour.
In a statement, former president Zardari thanked those who welcomed his son.
“The people are Bilawal Bhutto’s political heirs,” Zardari said.
He thanked the party activists who were taking part in the “Caravan-i-Bhutto” and said that Bhutto’s love for the people and their love for Bhutto would never end.
