Islamabad: Chairman Pakistan Peoples Party, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, while addressing an event in Muzaffarabad, Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), said that the PPP’s relationship with the Kashmiri people spans three generations, and no one can drive a wedge between them.
Chairman Bilawal directed the elected AJK Prime Minister Faisal Mumtaz Rathore to visit every nook and corner of AJK in his capacity as Prime Minister and hold open kachehris, as Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto once did. He emphasised that the Prime Minister must go to the people and address their issues. He added that he would request the federal government to extend all necessary support for the people of Kashmir.
The Chairman said that PPP AJK President Chaudhry Yasin will lead the party’s election campaign ahead of the elections scheduled to take place in six months. He instructed the party’s ticket holders to coordinate with Faisal Rathore and the AJK government for this purpose. “We will not run the AJK government from behind closed doors; we will work with the people to resolve their problems,” he said.
Chairman Bilawal stated that the crushing defeat inflicted on India in May was historic. “As the former Foreign Minister, I can assert that Pakistan’s international standing is gaining respect. Meanwhile, Modi is hiding from the world, whether at the United Nations or ASEAN forums. He has been defeated like a coward, and he knows he will be reminded of the 7–0 defeat,” he said. He added that every child understands India’s agenda regarding Kashmir, which is to create infighting and damage the brotherly bond between Pakistan and Kashmir. “This conspiracy of the Modi government will not succeed. Nothing can taint the relationship between the people of Azad Kashmir and Pakistan.”
He recalled that people would stand in lines to meet Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, a fact also documented by Hillary Clinton in her book. “There is only one instance where Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto herself stood waiting, and that was for the people of Kashmir. At a meeting of the OIC, the foundation of which was laid by Quaid-e-Awam Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto waited outside the Saudi King’s door with a file in hand. When the King asked why she was waiting, she replied that she was there for her brothers in Kashmir.”
Chairman PPP said that it is his desire for the people of Kashmir to attain membership in the OIC. He recalled that as Foreign Minister, while chairing a meeting of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers, he had the opportunity to beckon the then President of Kashmir to speak about his people.
He reiterated that the relationship between the PPP and the Kashmiri people spans three generations, and that the PPP will continue to strive for their cause. “In six months, we will return to the Kashmiri people, seek their mandate, and form the government,” he concluded.