Monday, November 7, 2016
Clinton campaign buoyed by high Latino turnout in election's final hours
Dan Roberts
The US presidential campaign ended on Monday where the fiercest nomination battles began – in the rustbelt – as Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump spent the last hours of a bitter election focused on the country’s deep economic divide.
Democrats gained a late confidence boost as a final series of national opinion polls confirmed a small but steady lead for Clinton. Early voting numbers point already to record turnout among Latino voters stirred into action by Trump’s anti-immigration rhetoric.
But the continued risk of an upset that would send shockwaves around the world was underlined by state-level polling suggesting several possible paths to victory also remain for Trump. He hopes to galvanise white working-class anger over jobs and trade in the traditionally Democratic manufacturing regions, though also needs an almost clean sweep of battleground states including Florida and North Carolina to win outright.
Sensing possible danger, the Clinton campaign poured last-minute resources into the industrial midwest, a region where she struggled against a similar anti-establishment surge for Bernie Sanders during the primary election season. Both Clinton and Barack Obama held afternoon rallies in Michigan before planning to finish the night on stage together in Philadelphia with Bruce Springsteen.
Trump was also headed to Michigan where he planned to end the night, before returning to New York, where he will vote. The Republican candidate took aim at Clinton’s use of celebrities to amplify her final pitch to voters, with a loaded jibe at Jay Z and Beyonce: “Were they talking or singing?”
“What’s happening is a disgrace,” he told his first rally in Florida after the FBI confirmed overnight it would not be changing its decision not to charge Clinton over her private email use. “With what’s happening with our justice, our country is a laughing stock all over the world. They’re laughing.”
“We are going to bring back the jobs and the wealth that have been stolen from you,” Trump told a later rally in Raleigh, North Carolina. “We are going to bring back the miners and the factory workers.”
Under the crisp blue skies forecast for much of the country on election day, his opponent began her last full day of campaigning with a more personal moment: one that highlights the historic opportunity ahead of her to become the first female president and role model for a generation of young women.
Pausing beneath the plane that has carried her through the closing months of a sometimes interminable-feeling campaign, she stopped to show the scene to her two-year-old granddaughter Charlotte via her phone’s FaceTime application.
“I wouldn’t have worked as hard as I have over 18 months … if I did not believe in my heart that we can do this,” she later told supporters in Pittsburgh. “We don’t have to accept a dark and divisive vision for America. Tomorrow you can vote for a big-hearted America.
“Our core values are being tested in this election,” Clinton added. “I know a lot of people feel frustrated and left behind. There is fear and anger in our country, but anger is not a plan. We have got to start talking to each other again.”
Amid continued Democratic rancour over the late role of the FBI and Trump’s threat to refuse to recognise an election result he claims may be “rigged”, it will a tough battle whoever wins.
The Department of Justice announced on Monday that its Civil Rights Division plans to deploy more than 500 personnel to 67 jurisdictions in 28 states to monitor voting. There is particular concern that changes to voting rules in states such as North Carolina may have deliberately depressed African American turnout.
Though stock markets rebounded on Monday in the wake of better national polls for Clinton, Democrats fear the unnecessary cloud cast by the FBI could cost them control of Congress and prolong Washington gridlock even if she wins the White House.
“I think I have some work to do to bring the country together as I’ve been saying in these speeches in the last few days,” Clinton acknowledged to reporters on her plane. “These splits, these divides that have been not only exposed but exacerbated by the campaign on the other side are ones that we really do have to bring this country together.”
Obama urged Americans to focus on the big picture as he began his last day of campaigning warning that Tuesday’s election could be close-fought.
“I want you tune out all the noise and I want you to focus because the choice you face when you step into the voting booth could not be clearer: Donald Trump is temperamentally unfit to be commander in chief,” he told a rally in Ann Arbor, Michigan. “Just think, over the weekend his campaign took away his Twitter account. Now, if your closest advisers don’t trust you to tweet, why should we trust you with the nuclear codes?”
Defending his economic record, and a Democratic sponsored bailout for the auto industry, the president reserved his harshest comments for the notion that a wealthy Manhattan property developer was portraying himself a blue-collar champion.
“Don’t be bamboozled. Don’t fall for the okey-doke,” blasted Obama. “I don’t think Trump knows any working people apart from the folks who work on his golf course and clean up in his hotel.”
Trump has spent his final days barnstorming throughout states that have long leaned Democratic such as Michigan and Minnesota in attempt to strike electoral lightning and pull off an upset as he kept up a frenetic schedule of rallies. The Republican nominee seemed aware the odds are were against him, telling a crowd in Virginia, a state that has long been considered to be safely in Clinton’s column that election day “will be Brexit times 50”.
His closing message remained little changed from the themes which had defined his campaign since launch on 16 June 2015, railing against targets like immigrants and the media.
In Minnesota, home to the US’s largest Somali-American community, Trump took aim at that minority group to deafening cheers in a Minneapolis airport hangar. “Here in Minnesota, you’ve seen first-hand the problems caused with faulty refugee vetting, with very large numbers of Somali refugees coming into your state without your knowledge, without your support or approval,” Trump told the crowd.
He added: “Everybody’s reading about the disaster taking place in Minnesota,” he added, before falsely claiming: “You don’t even have the right to talk about it.”
Trump has long made refugees from Syria targets of his scorn, using his pledge to prevent any from being admitted into the United States as a regular applause line at this rallies. However, adapting his message in a state which was last won by a Republican in a presidential election in 1972, he added Somalis to his target list.
The Republican nominee though seemed most energized by Jay Z and Beyoncé, who appeared in a concert on behalf of Hillary Clinton in Cleveland on Friday. He repeatedly bashed the two over weekend. Trump boasted that he didn’t need celebrities to draw a crowd. “I don’t need Beyonce and I don’t need Jay Z,” he told a cheering crowd in a late night rally in Denver on Saturday.
The Republican nominee, well known for a host of controversial and vulgar comments, including a leaked recording in October where he boasted of grabbing women “by the pussy” , also criticised the pop stars for the language in their songs. Trump told the crowd in Minneapolis: “Jay Z and Beyonce use the most filthy language you’ve ever heard,” while making clear, “I like Jay Z and I like Beyonce but the language is terrible.”
With the sound of far-harsher words from Trump ringing in their ears, Americans take the polls poised to banish his rhetoric from the political realm or usher in an angry four years.
On Election Day, the Hillary Clinton White Suit Effect
By Vanessa Friedman
One of the more unexpected turns in a very twisted (in all senses of the word) electoral season has been the sudden emergence of a fashion statement that should, if all goes according to plan, reach its apogee on Tuesday, Election Day.
A grass-roots movement on social media has been urging women to #WearWhiteToVote in solidarity with the American suffragists, who adopted the color as one of their signatures and fought for what has now come (at least partly) to fruition: the first woman as a major party’s candidate for president.
This is not dissimilar to the #pantsuitnation movement that emerged on Facebook a few weeks ago, in which women pledged to wear pantsuits to vote in support of that candidate, Hillary Clinton, who has famously adopted the pantsuit as her power uniform, though wear white movement is broader, and references feminist history as much as the current campaign.
On Facebook, where there is a #WearWhiteToVote public page, and on Twitter, women are widely pledging their support.
Other women have already put their words into action, with one 102-year-old combining both movements by wearing a white pantsuit to cast an early vote in Arizona. Likewise, Ellen Cohen, the mayor pro tem of Houston, told the Boston Globe that she and her 101-year-old mother would wear white to vote.
Though the discussion around white and the suffragists began in the summer when Mrs. Clinton wore an ivory Ralph Lauren pantsuit to accept her nomination at the Democratic National Convention, both movements really coalesced after her appearance in another white Ralph Lauren pantsuit — with a slightly raised collar and off-center buttons that sparked comparisons to Star Trek and supreme beings — in the third presidential debate in October. Since then the white suit, either as a whole or simply as a white garment, has come to symbolize something greater than merely a piece of clothing.
“I was watching the debate with a group of friends, and we all said, spontaneously, ‘That’s a gorgeous suit — I want that suit,’ ” said Marcia Greenberger, co-president of the National Women’s Law Center in Washington.
Debra Katz, a founding partner of the civil rights law firm Katz, Marshall & Banks, was one of them. “She looked so powerful and smashing,” Ms. Katz said of Mrs. Clinton, “and there was this sense she was speaking for all of us.”
Ms. Greenberger said she and her friends had started talking about how they should all wear white to a fund-raising dinner for the law center as a “sign of solidarity,” and it spiraled from there.
The only hitch: No one could get the original Ralph Lauren design, because it had been custom-made for Mrs. Clinton.
“I went on the Ralph Lauren website hours ago and can’t find it anywhere!” wrote one unhappy Facebook poster in a private chat.
Another responded: “Let me know what you come up with — maybe a discount if we buy in bulk.”
Though a brand spokesman acknowledged “there has been a lot of interest and excitement around her look,” he would not say anything more about whether there were plans to commercialize the suit. That has not, however, deterred the women determined to wear white to honor those who came before.
“It started as fun and moved into having all this meaning, both historic and cultural,” said Lisa J. Banks, Ms. Katz’s law partner and a co-founder of their firm.
She is not the only one who thinks so.
Since the Democratic National Convention, “white pantsuits” have become the most-searched color of pantsuit according to data from Lyst, the global e-commerce platform that acts as a centralized shopping bag for thousands of retailers. Searches for white pantsuits are now 7 percent more prevalent than searches for black pantsuits which, before the convention, were the most-searched color. (Eighty percent of the searches originated in the United States.)
Katherine Ormerod, Lyst’s editorial director, said, “The pantsuit has had a massive resurgence in interest with a 460 percent uplift since January 2016. The interest in white pantsuits in particular has certainly confounded expectations — especially as we usually see a seasonal dip for white color ways across every category.’’
There is precedent for this kind of desire and action, in any case. In 1978 when thousands of women marched on Washington in support of the Equal Rights Amendment, they did so led by Gloria Steinem and Betty Friedan, with the majority of the marchers wearing white. Ms. Greenberger noted that the law center often suggests that women wear white at public demonstrations.
The point is, the women said, that clothing is a symbol that is universally accessible, allowing anyone who can dig up a garment (“Once all I had was white puffer jacket, but that was fine,” Ms. Greenberger said.) to express their commitment and connection to a story greater than their own.
As a result, Tuesday may just be the beginning. Ms. Banks said she and her friends planned to find white suits to wear to the inauguration if Mrs. Clinton is elected. They are hoping that Ralph Lauren might provide some options, but if not, well, given the demand, there is little doubt someone else will.
“I’ve never actually bought a piece of clothing specifically for an inauguration,” Ms. Katz said. “I went to Obama’s second inauguration, but was mostly concerned with not being cold. This is a new thing.”
And then we will see if the area in front of the west side of the Capitol is a sea of white garments once again.
Hillary Clinton's Possible Paths to Victory
Hillary Clinton is hitting three important states in the final lap of her presidential campaign, with her team seeming confident that her road to the required 270 electoral votes is secure. Clinton is headed to Pennsylvania, Michigan and back to Pennsylvania, then finishing up in North Carolina today. She spent time in Ohio this weekend with some all-star supporters such as Beyonce, Jay Z and a native son, LeBron James.
Of all the competitive states on this year's map, only Florida needs to go into Clinton's column for her to win the race. If she loses Florida but wins Nevada, Michigan and Pennsylvania, all of which Democrats won in 2012, then she still triumphs. Ohio, New Hampshire, Iowa, North Carolina and, to a lesser extent, Arizona and Georgia are all close as well and could add to her lead or bolster her rival Donald Trump. But even if he wins all six of those states, he will also have to clinch some combination of Florida, Pennsylvania and Michigan to have a path to 270 electoral votes. PHOTO: NBA basketball player Lebron James introduces U.S. Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton during a campaign rally in Cleveland, Nov. 6, 2016.Carlos Barria/Reuters NBA basketball player Lebron James introduces U.S. Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton during a campaign rally in Cleveland, Nov. 6, 2016.more + Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook does not seem worried about Trump's latest plays in Michigan and other typically Democratic states like Minnesota and Wisconsin.
"I think he needed to get those into play much earlier. I'm not concerned that he's spending so much time there at the end, because he didn't build a ground game. Just this weekend, our team knocked on 7.2 million doors, made 8.1 million phone calls," Mook told "Good Morning America" today.
"I don't think Donald Trump dashing around to these states at the last hour is going to do what's needed to get his supporters out," he said. One of the keys to Mook's confidence? Early voting numbers.
"We saw just eye-popping turnout in Florida over the last two days, particularly in our strongholds of southern Florida, North Carolina and elsewhere, so we're very encouraged, very positive," he said.
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/hillary-clintons-paths-victory/story?id=43358290
Christian leader demands revisit of blasphemy laws in Pakistan
A young Christian leader Shalokh Irfan has said while issuing a statement that the minorities living in Pakistan are never safe, rather in every age, the churches of the Christians and even their colonies have been smashed by burning. Due to the reason the minorities are always in the state of threat, harassment and insecurity.
We demand from government that all discriminatory laws against Christians including blasphemy law should be curved and ended up instantly. Because all the minorities living in Pakistan are patriotic and equally participating in the development of the country.
Shalokh Irfan further added that in the society of Pakistan no parity and equality does exist particularly for the welfare of the minorities. The people from minority are hankering after and toiling hard day and night for the uplift of Pakistan in the comity of nations.
Shalokh Irfan said that in the Pakistani society no equal rights have been given to the minorities, rather the Christians are considered to be the citizens of 2nd grade. He further maintained that he would request to the members of parliaments for focusing their attention towards raising their voice for the codification of conducive laws in the parliament as such laws are the symbols of constitutional and terrorism. - See more at: http://www.pakistanchristianpost.com/detail.php?hnewsid=6174#sthash.QInH9k7L.dpuf
Pakistan: Fire at Ship breaking yard, 200 deaths feared
Eyewitnesses have told the comrades of Worker Nama that more than 150 workers were trapped inside the ship and couldn't get out. The fire on the ship was out of control for three days and was only extinguished on the fourth day. However, the rescue operations have not been able to start yet, due to heat emanating from the ship.
Workers in Gaddani have been working in conditions similar to slavery for decades. They owners treat them like insects. When this Japanese Oil tanker was brought to the yard the cutting of the tanker started without completing the cleaning process of the ship. While the workers were cleaning oil in the 40 to 50 feet deep tankers, the gas based cutting process started at the top floor. A spark from this process somehow penetrated the tank and the whole oil tanker burst into flames.The fire then lit the gas cylinders which were being used for cutting. The blasts from these were throwing the workers into the air. The explosion was so huge, that the roofs and windows of nearby buildings were broken. The up to two inches thick steel walls of the ship couldn't withstand the blast and big parts of the ship were flying into the air.
Many bodies were floating in the sea after desperate workers, having already caught fire, had to jump out of the ship. It was a horrible scene with dozens of workers on fire walking around with no first aid equipment to treat them. Many casualties could have been prevented just by the provision of first aid. This clearly exposes the safety conditions and implementation of labor laws at the yard.
The callous response of the government authorities have also been seen as usual. The government and its crony media are under reporting the deaths, to avoid a public outrage. Media outlets have reported 17 deaths and 50 injured while claiming that hundreds of workers are missing. They do not dare to tell the public that the bodies of these "missing" workers will never be found - they have been turned into ashes by the fire. No government department has got the record of workers working inside the ship. In fact, the authorities have not disclosed the records of the company which owned the ship as it would expose their crimes. A minister of the Balochistan government remarked in the Assembly that the government has no authority over this area where ship owners rule.
The customs authorities have denied clearing any such ship and have said that it might be an Indian conspiracy of sending an oil tanker to invade Pakistan. Every department is putting the blame on another to save its own skin.
According to a report on BBC Urdu Federal Minister for Ports and Shipping Hasil Bizinjo, who is also leader of a Baloch nationalist party, said that “this area is under the Balochistan Development Authority (BDA), so I am not responsible for this.” However, Chairman of BDA Shoaib Gola shifted the blame again, saying that a No Objection Certificate from the Environment department is required before starting the cutting of the ship. The Director General of Environment said that they had not issued any NOC for this Ship. The chairman of the Ship owners Association, Dewan Rizwan Farooq, said that there was no oil on the ship. While the Deputy Commissioner of the area said that the ship had 11,000 ton of refined oil while 2,000 ton of crude oil. The arrested contractor of the ship Farooq Bengali says that there were around 85 people working on the ship which, is far less than the actual number. The title of this BBC report says that "responsible for this incident and number of workers at work can't be established".
The number of "missing" workers can only be established by the complaints of their relatives who came there to search their dear ones, but who couldn't find them. In fact the majority of workers at Gaddani are brought in from distant and remote parts of the country after paying $200-300 to their family. These families are often indebted to local landowners or the like and this "huge" amount in one installment helps them to reduce their misery. These workers are then bound to their owners for the whole season. So families of many "missing" workers don't even know what has happened to their fathers, brothers or sons.
The wages for the 20,000 strong workforce here in Gaddani are miserable. Unskilled cleaning workers are paid $4 or $5 per day, working 12 or more hours per day. Skilled workers like cutters received around $10, for 12 or more hours per day. These are much less than the miserable government defined minimum wage levels. Most of these workers live in wooden makeshift huts near the yard with 8 or 10 workers at a time are packed into small rooms. No labor laws or safety standards are observed and the workers are working with their bare hands, bare footed and with loosely fitted clothes. The workers have to work in damp tanks of up to 50 feet in depth without any monitoring or oxygen surrounded by hazardous gases. Many faint while working and lay on the ground unconscious, no one helps them until they get up with their own efforts and restart work. There is no light inside the tanks and have to continue working when it gets dark. Only supervisors have small lights with which they can check whether the workers are working or sitting idle. Deaths at the workplace are very common and have become a routine. The conditions are so horrible that when a worker is seriously injured, his colleagues demand death grants from the owners rather than asking for health facility. There is no proper health facility nearby and the victims of this incident were sent to Civil Hospital in Karachi tens of miles away. Not a single court case had ever been registered against any of the owners or contractors, before this incident.
For some years some workers have been trying to organize themselves around the Mazdoor Union. Bashir Mehmoodani, the leader of this union, speaking to Worker Nama, said that a yellow union backed by the contractors has prevented workers from joining them his union. He said that when he registered his union in 2009 he and his fellow workers were severely beaten by the local police in a protest. Since then they have been facing the wrath of the labor department and the police. Just two days before the incident a protest was organized by his union and the National Trade Union Federation (NTUF) for the implementation of safety, but no one took notice.
After this incident there was fury and rage amongst the workers. The comrades of the IMT in coordination with the Mazdoor Union and NTUF have organized a protest against the authorities. A large number of the workers have joined this protest and have raised slogans against the draconian policies of the state and ship owners. After this protest, a case was registered against the yard owner, Abdul Ghafoor Kamboh, and his contractor. Also, fire brigades and ambulances suddenly started arriving at the scene in big numbers. But all these fire brigades were not able to extinguish the fire as they lacked necessary equipment to handle the situation. A helicopter was also brought to throw extinguishing chemicals on the fire, but due to heavy smoke it couldn't do much.
Four years ago a similar fire happened in a factory in Baldia Town, Karachi in which nearly three hundred workers were burned to death and many more injured. The actual number of the casualties was also under reported then. But no one has been punished for the atrocity. Due to the policies of the government, these incidents have become a routine. Last year roof of a factory in Sundar in Lahore collapsed killing a large number of workers. Workers had been complaining about the dilapidated condition of the building, they were still forced to work there while a new floor was built on that roof.
After the most recent incident, many calls are coming from the authorities to investigate the causes of the incident, but this is just for show - nothing will be solved. The chief Minister of Balochistan, who visited Gaddani today was responsible for baton charging a protest of Young doctors in Quetta a few months ago. In that incident, one doctor nearly lost his eyesight. The Prime Minister of Pakistan is also the most famous steel industrialist of the country. His industries are notorious for throwing workers into steel melting furnaces if they demand pay raises or any other improvement of working condition. In such conditions what can be expected from these rulers? Nawaz Sharif in his previous tenure as Prime Minister banned labor inspection of industries in the whole country. Similar policies have been pursued by other governments whether military or "democratic". The ILO and other international organizations have ignored the draconian work conditions in the country. Now the government, on the dictates of IMF, is privatizing other sectors which will mean sending those public sector workers with relatively better working conditions towards the same conditions faced by workers of Gaddani.
The only way forward is to organize the workers of all sectors in Pakistan and the whole world to overthrow Capitalism which is the root cause of all these problems. The comrades of IMT are organizing a public meeting on Sunday near Gaddani to commemorate the 99th anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution. This meeting will not only discuss the reasons of this incident, but also the strategy to cope with this situation, the treatment of the victims and the compensation for their families. The Red Workers Front will also organize protests on this incident in other cities across the country. Most importantly we will continue the struggle for workers’ rights. The only revenge for this mass murder, is a socialist revolution in this country and beyond.MASSES SEE IN BILAWAL A NEW HOPE
While addressing a public meeting in Dharki on Friday, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has demonstrated the impressive speech power which reminded one of his grand-father Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Shaheed and his mother Benazir Bhutto Shaheed. Addressing the participants of the meeting, Bilawal passed castigating remarks against the ruling PML-N and PTI who are busy in a tussle aimed at their personal gains. He is hopeful of winning the 2018 elections given the present plight of the masses due to the incompetent policies of the current rulers.
He remarked that the PTI chief, instead of indulging in mudslinging against others, should tell the nation about his father Ikramullah Khan Niazi, and, speaking sarcastically, added that that sacrifice of the lion was necessary for saving democracy in the country, adding that in 2014 the lion was saved while saving democracy. He said Imran Khan should tell how much “help” was provided to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) by Uncle (Ahmad Shuja) Pasha. Bilawal said he would spill the beans if he was forced to speak by Imran Khan.
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari alleged that Imran Khan and Gen Hamid Gul had jointly hatched a conspiracy against Benazir Bhutto. He said Mian Sahib is prime minister and not the king. He said this is democracy and not the kingship of Takht-e-Raiwind. Pointing to the present political tussle between the PTI and PML-N, Bilawal also made a number of demands to the federal government and threatened to hold a long march on December 27 if the PML-N failed to accept his party’s demands.
The PPP leader demanded that government must revive the national security committee of parliament, accept the bill presented by the PPP on the Panama Papers controversy in the National Assembly, implement the resolutions passed at the recent multiparty conference on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, and appoint a full-time foreign minister immediately. The power of mass popularity shown by the PPP can be termed a positive development as the vibrant and dynamic presence of a number of mainstream political parties can strengthen the democratic set-up.
In order to ensure good governance, the presence of a strong opposition is necessary and the young Bhutto is heading in this direction. It may be recalled here that under the chairmanship of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the foundation of the PPP was laid on the principles of democracy, social welfare, equality for all masses and empowerment of the downtrodden masses in society. And in current situation when there is a crisis like situation in the country in the backdrop of Panama Leaks revelations as also the tension with India on Loc besides the issues of terrorism at home and tension with other neighbours, there is hope in the leadership of Bilawal Bhutto Zardari who can make his mark in national politics. Masses say that if the PPP wants to retain the lost glory, it has to bridge the gap between the masses and the leadership and the young Bhutto seems to be the bridging force.
Right now Bilawal seems to outlining a new policy on how to proceed with its future politics. Under his leadership, the party seems to be re-framing and re-branding the party manifesto to win the confidence of some disgruntled PPP leaders and workers. One is sure the PPP can win hearts and minds if it sticks to the basic principles that were its founding basis. In Bilawal seems to sticking to those basic principles which continue to echo in his speeches, he can make a difference.
In Bilawal, faithful PPP jiyalas and diehard old leaders see Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto, and for them, Bilawal’s leadership may just be catalyst for the revival of the party they have given their blood and sweat to over decades. It is up to Bilawal now how he convinces people to believe in the legacy of that one slogan that has retained its relevance even after almost five decades: Roti, Kapra aur Makaan (Bread, clothing and shelter).
Bilawal also set a good precedent by celebrating Diwali with hindu community of Pakistan in Dharki. His act has proved that PPP always respect and promotes the interfaith harmony, every citizen of Pakistan deserves equal rights to perform their religious rituals freely and frequently. His goodwill gesture to the Hindu community definitely aimed at inter-faith harmony which is the hall-mark of our constitution which guarantees equal rights to all citizens irrespective of their class and creed and caste.
As a matter of fact, the minorities of Pakistan have played the key role for the development and prosperity of the country and fortifying the democracy and our political leaders must bring the minorities communities into mainstream politics so that they should feel themselves as part and parcel of the democratic set up. Minorities make up only about three percent of the 190 million population of Pakistan, which was founded as a haven for the sub-continent’s Muslims on independence from the British in 1947 with a promise of religious freedom to minorities and it is our national obligation to give equal rights to our minorities.
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Pakistan - Bilawal Bhutto throws his weight behind Hillary Clinton
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto is backing Hillary Clinton for US president, he revealed in a tweet on Monday.Bilawal showed his support for Clinton by responding to a tweet that read, “A lady who was lined up to get a glimpse of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto is now going to be the president of the most powerful country of the world.”
“Insh’Allah #ImWitHer,” he added.
Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto greeting then First lady of the US Hillary Clinton along with Chelsea Clinton while holding the hands of her kids, Bilawal (left) and Bakhtawar (right). PHOTO: FLICKR
A few years later when Clinton became the first lady of the US and Bhutto had become prime minister, the two met again when Bhutto invited her to Pakistan. Clinton described Bhutto as “brilliant and striking,” NYT reported.
PHOTO: WASHINGTON POST
“Bhutto acknowledged the difficulties faced by women who were breaking with tradition and taking leading roles in public life,” Clinton wrote about her. “She deftly managed to refer both to the challenges I had encountered during my White House tenure and to her own situation. ‘Women who take on tough issues and stake out new territory are often on the receiving end of ignorance,” she concluded.
Benazir Bhutto with Hillary Rodham Clinton and Chelsea Clinton after a dinner reception in Pakistan in 1995. PHOTO: Win McNamee/Getty Images
Clinton has a long list of influential supporters, including US President Barack Obama, rock star Bruce Springsteen, Katy Perry, Beyoncé, Jay Z, Jennifer Lopez, Marc Anthony and Miley Cyrus among others.
Americans are getting set for a long Election Night of waiting to see who the 45th US president will be — Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump. Opinion polls show Clinton still holds advantages in states that could be critical in deciding the election.
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