Pakistan: Dialogue or deterrence: govt told to make up its mind

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The National Assembly leader of the opposition said on Saturday that the government needed to make up its mind as to whether it would chose “dialogue” or “deterrence” to tackle the issue of terrorism. “The government has weakened its own position by persisting that it wants to hold talks with terrorists,” Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah told reporters on Saturday.

“Will Pakistan be a secure and safe country for the coming generations if the writ of the State has been severely compromised by the threat posed by extremists and terrorists?”

Shah was talking to the media after attending a seminar on the sacrifices rendered by slain Pakistan People’s Party chairperson Benazir Bhutto and other party leaders for the sake of democracy organized by the People’s Youth Organisation at the Karachi Press Club.

“The government should have utilised the option and mandate given to it through the forum of the all-parties conference attended by every mainstream political party,” he said. “The conference had backed the new government to hold talks with the extremists. Now it is high-time for the government to pick an option in the drive against terrorists.”

Privatisation

Shah said the PPP would move the apex court against the government’s newly-announced policy of privatising national institutions. “The opposition party can also use the option of launching an agitation drive against the policy,” he added. He said the policy of privatisation in earlier instances had resulted in the national exchequer receiving billions of rupees, but at the present, there were no clues available about where the money would go.

“The privatisation of national institutions would result in exacerbating the trend of unemployment in the society, which is tantamount to the economic murder of the masses.” Earlier, while speaking at the seminar, Shah defended the decision of the PPP to nominate the young Bilawal Bhutto Zardari as the new leader of the party.

“No other leader of the PPP, regardless of their age or political experience, would be more suitable than Bilawal to become the new patron of the party,” he said.

“Bilawal will soon emerge as the new icon of the struggle for revival and continuance of democracy in the country.”

Shah said he had advised Bilawal to assemble the youth of the country on a single platform for the cause of democracy and resolving major national issues. In this regard, he added, a youth festival would be held in Lahore in the coming weeks. He said he had also advised the Sindh chief minister to hold a youth convention in the province. Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, in his a message read out on the occasion, said the sacrifices rendered by the leadership and activists of the PP had glorified name of the party.

He also praised the political services of his father, former president Asif Ali Zardari, who despite facing incarceration for several years, had always strived for the survival and progress of Pakistan. PPP leader Abdul Qadir Patel said the party’s leaders and activists had endured hardships and laid down their lives in their struggle against autocratic rulers and terrorists, but their spirit and morale had never been dampened. Senator Saeed Ghani praised Bilawal for taking over the responsibility of leading the PPP.