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Pakistan: Murdering Democracy – Analysis

By Ajit Kumar Singh

On July 13, 2018, at least 149 civilians were killed and 186 others injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up targeting a political rally of the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) at Dringarh village in Mastung District of Balochistan. According to the bomb disposal squad (BDS), up to 15 kilograms of explosive material was used in the incident. The dead included Siraj Raisani, the BAP candidate from National Assembly seat Province Balochistan–35 (PB-35, Mastung). Siraj’s elder brother, Nawab Aslam Raisani, was the Chief Minister of Balochistan Province between 2008 and 2013. Most of the other victims were residents of Kanak and Dringarh areas, who had invited Raisani to announce their support for him. The Islamic State (IS) and the ‘Ghazi force Lal Masjid’ wing of the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) separately claimed responsibility for the attack.

On the same day, at least four persons were killed and another 32 injured in a bomb triggered by remote control, targeting the convoy of Akram Khan Durrani in the Haved Bazaar (market) area of Bannu town (Bannu District) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Durrani had served as Federal Minister for Housing and Works between June 2013 and May 2018, and as Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa between 2002 and 2007. He was heading back from an election rally near North Waziristan District. Durrani, who escaped unhurt, is the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) candidate for the National Assembly seat Province Khyber Pakhtunkhwa-35 (PK-35, Bannu), standing against Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) leader Imran Khan. The attack was claimed by TTP.

On July 10, 2018, at least 22 persons, including Awami National Party (ANP) leader Haroon Bilour, were killed and over 30 people injured in a suicide blast which targeted an ANP election gathering in the Yakatoot area of Peshawar, the provincial capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The blast took place when Haroon Bilour, who was a candidate from the National Assembly seat Province Khyber Paktunkhwa-78 (PK-78), arrived at the site where the ANP workers had gathered for a meeting. Bilour suffered serious injuries and was shifted to the hospital, where he succumbed to his wounds. Mohammad Khurasani, TTP ‘spokesperson’, claimed responsibility of the blast. Earlier, on April 16, 2013, TTP had carried out an attack targeting Haroon Bilour in the Mundabheri area of Yakatoot in Peshawar. Though Haroon had escaped unhurt, 16 persons were killed and more than 35 others were injured in the attack. Among the injured was Haroon’s uncle and senior ANP leader Ghulam Ahmed Bilour. While claiming responsibility, the then TTP ‘spokesperson’ Ehsanullah Ehsan had told journalists that Haroon was the target, but “unfortunately Ghulam Ahmed Bilour got injured”. Haroon Bilour was the son of Bashir Ahmed Bilour, a senior ANP leader and the then Minister for Local Government and Rural Development in KP Assembly, who was killed by a suicide bomber during a party meeting in the Qissa Khawani Bazaar area of Peshawar on December 22, 2012. Eight others were killed and another 17 others had sustained injuries in that blast. TTP had claimed the attack.

These were the three most prominent election-related terror incidents among 12 reported from across Pakistan since the announcement of the date of General Elections 2018 by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on May 26, 2018. At least 180 people (178 civilians and two militants) have been killed in these incidents and another 270 have been injured. The General Elections 2018 are scheduled to be held on July 25, 2018.

The attacks have taken place despite National Coordinator of the National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA) Suleman Khan issuing a warning on July 9, 2018, that terrorists could target top leaders of political parties during their election campaigns. Khan disclosed,

As head of the NACTA an organization established to coordinate counter terrorism efforts I would say we have received some very serious reports. Hitherto NACTA has issued 12 threat alerts based upon source reports concerning the election campaigns, some quite general and others particular.

General Elections in Pakistan have been a bloody affair for some time now. During the General Elections 2013 (declared on March 22, 2013, and conducted on May 11, 2013), at least 268 persons (260 civilians, seven Security Force, SF, personnel, one militant) were killed and another 45 injured in 80 election-related terror incidents. The worst election-related terror incident during this period was recorded on May 6, 2013, when 23 civilians were killed and more than 70 were injured in a blast targeting an election rally of the Fazal faction of Jamiat Ulema-e Islam (JUI-F) in the Sewak village area of Kurram Agency in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).

Similarly, General Elections 2008 were marred by terror incidents. In the period between February 8, 2007 (the date of declaration of elections) and the election date, February 18, 2008, at least 259 persons (251 civilians and eight militants) were killed and another 513 injured in 14 election-related terror incidents. The worst election-related terror incident during this period was recorded on February 16, 2008, when a suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden car into the election office of an independent candidate in Parachinar city, FATA, killing at least 47 persons, including six children, and injuring 109 others.

Even against this background, the current elections are a matter of great concern, because they follow a phase of relative calm. Terrorism-related fatalities have recorded declining trends over the past few years, but election violence has put Pakistan once again on the boil. During a single week – between July 9 and July 15 – Pakistan has accounted for at least 178 terrorism-related deaths (176 civilians and two militants) as against a total of 281 (90 civilians, 95 SF personnel, and 96 militants) such fatalities recorded in first 189 days of the current year.

Significantly, moreover, the July 13, 2018, incident is the worst attack, in terms of fatalities, recorded since the Army Public School (APS) attack on December 16, 2014, in which at least 150 persons, including 134 children, nine school staff members and all seven suicide attackers, were killed.

The Pakistani establishment – civilian and military – has, from time to time, claimed that ‘terrorism is over’. The Chief of Army Staff (CoAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa claimed, on October 11, 2017, that Pakistan had improved the security situation on the internal front and defeated the challenges to the writ of the State, though a ‘residual threat’ remained. Further, on January 13, 2018, the then Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi declared that Pakistan had achieved remarkable success against terrorism: “The tide has been turned against terrorists and their capacity to conduct activities has been immensely curtailed.” It is pertinent to mention here that though terrorism-linked fatalities were on a decline between December 16, 2014, and July 13, 2018, there were at least 156 major incidents (involving three or more civilian killings) targeting civilians even during this period. At least five of these incidents recorded over 50 civilian fatalities each, including one in which 88 persons were killed, and two where 74 persons were killed in each.

As SAIR has noted earlier, all the factors responsible for the rise of terrorism in Pakistan remain intact, and no honest effort has been made to deal with basic issues, as state policy continues to support select terrorist formations and is against taking any hard measures against domestic extremism as well.

Crucially, the infiltration of terrorist elements into mainstream politics in Pakistan now appears imminent. The Nation thus reported on July 8, 2018,

Religious parties have fielded the highest number of candidates on the National Assembly seats for the first time in the country’s history, focusing on all the provinces and breaking all past records. Although Jamaat-e-Islami [JeI] had come up with a long list of aspirants in 1970 against the then nominees of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s PPP [Pakistan Peoples Party] and Sheikh Mujeeb’s Awami League [AL] in East and West Pakistan, and Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal [MMA] had also fielded candidates across the country in 2002, the number stands the highest this time. More than 460 aspirants fielded separately by MMA, Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan [Tehreek-e-Labbaik ya Rasool Allah Pakistan (TLP)], Milli Muslim League [MML, the political front of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) chief Hafeez Saeed-led Jammat-ud-Dawa (JuD)]-backed Allah-o-Akbar Tehreek and other small entities…

Significantly, TLP, an Islamist party, erupted against the alleged change in the Khatm-e-Nabuwat [finality of Prophet-hood] clause, and has now underlined its extremist-terrorist orientation. TLP chief Maulana Khadim Hussain Rizvi, who has fielded as many as 152 candidates for the General Elections 2018, declared on July 9, 2018,

If they give me the atom bomb I would remove Holland from the face of the earth before they can hold a competition of caricature. I will wipe them off the face of this earth.

He was referring to a competition of cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad announced by The Freedom Party of Dutch anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders in June 2018.

Among the 460 candidates for the NA Elections, are Hafeez Saeed’s son, Hafiz Talha Saeed, and son-in-law, Khalid Waleed, both internationally proscribed terrorists. Significantly, they face no face impediment in standing for elections.

On the other hand, attempts are being made by the deep state to target particular political formations among the front line parties, most prominently Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), which has been in power since 2013, using courts and ECP. For instance, on July 14, 2018, the Lahore Police registered at least 12 FIRs [First Information Reports] against top PML-N leaders, including the current party chief Shehbaz Sharif, on charges of terrorism, attempt to murder, interference in government matters, and violation of Section 144 of Pakistan Penal Code which prohibits joining unlawful assembly armed with deadly weapon. Shehbaz Sharif, the Chief Minister of Punjab Province till May 2018 (the Punjab Province like other Provinces and the country are presently under care taker Governments) is the brother of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. The FIRs were lodged a day after violent clashes erupted between PML-N supporters and law enforcers on Nawaz Sharif’s arrival in Lahore. Nawaz Sharif and his daughter, Maryam, were convicted by an Accountability Court on July 6, 2018, in absentia, while they were visiting Sharif’s ailing wife in London. The sentence, 10 years in prison in Nawaz Sharif’s case, came almost a year after Pakistan’s Supreme Court removed him from office and less than five months after the court barred him from holding office for life. The case stemmed from the so-called Panama Papers leak that disclosed expensive and undeclared property owned by the Sharif family in London. Nawaz Sharif and Mryam were both arrested on their arrival and are currently lodged in Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jil.

The Leader of Opposition in the Senate, PPP Senator Sherry Rehman on July 12, 2018, also alleged that some parties were being rewarded while others being targeted, including the PPP. Talking to journalists after she and Senator Maula Bakhsh Chandio met with Chief Election Commissioner Justice Sardar Muhammad Raza Khan, she said they apprised him of their concerns and how their candidates were being disqualified and pressured to change loyalties. She complained that they had been talking to the ECP for over a month, but ECP was not paying any attention to their concerns. “’Proscribed organisations’ candidates are being brought to the forefront, while our candidates are being disqualified,” she asserted, “Our party is being stopped from running its election campaign. Magisterial powers are being given to people other than the presiding officers.”

The efforts of the military to steer the elections against PML-N and PPP, the two most popular political formations in Pakistan, and in favour of a possible coalition led by Imran Khan’s PTI and including a range of radical Islamist formations, has enormously destabilized both the political and extremist landscape across the country. Under the prevailing situation, a dramatic rise in violence is not unexpected.

Perspective: Ahmadis in Pakistan’s electoral paradigm

The separate electorate, Ahmadiyya non-Muslim status and separate voter lists for Ahmadis still exist. The state policy of basic human rights denial for Ahmadis is still in practice.

The Lahori Ahmadis, a very small sub-group, has the false representation of Ahmadis in National Assembly without appropriate Ahmadiyya support.

“We should begin to work in that spirit and in course of time all these angularities of the majority and minority communities, the Hindu community and the Muslim community, because even as regards Muslims you have Pathans, Punjabis, Shias, Sunnis and so on, and among the Hindus you have Brahmins, Vaishnavas, Khatris, also Bengalis, Madrasis and so on, will vanish… nobody could have conquered you, and even if it had happened, nobody could have continued its hold on you or any length of time.” (Mohammad Ali Jinnah, 11 August 1947)

The modern state system does not support any official religion in an independent state. Essentially, the religious beliefs and faith are the concern of citizens while the state is the custodian of their beliefs and devotions. Religion-dominated states are commonly bifurcated and less integrated. Historically, the religion-based ideology has increased the woes of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The issues of minorities, sectarian victimisation and the violation of basic human rights are massive.

A true democracy empowers citizens and creates the undeviating association among the ruled and ruler by representing the majority rule. But it also defies and binds the majority not to devastate the minority or tiny communities in a socio-political environment. Majority rule sometimes materialises as a gigantic deficiency of democracy and increases the agonies of minority groups.

Pakistan is suffering from the fanatic factions of ignorant Mullahs. The political elite and these religious freelancers are exploiting the nation in the name of so-called democracy and self-explained version of religion to fulfil their own agendas. Demonstrating street power provoking religious sentiments in religious assemblages, religion-based parties like Jamat-i-Islami (JI), Jamiat-i-Ulema Islam (JUI), Sunni Tehreek and Tahreek-i-Labbaik Ya Rasulullah (TLYR) etc. are fostering the political regimes to implement their radicalised agendas in the society to create supremacy and influence over the socio-political set up of the country.

Ahmadis are the most agonised community of Pakistan in this regard. State-led exploitation is swelling their hitches and torments. Ahmadiyya population in Pakistan is reduced to approximately three to five hundred thousand. In 1974, in Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s regime, the parliament declared them non-Muslims in the geographical boundaries of Pakistan. Later, Gen Zia ul Haq executed the Anti-Ahmadiyya Ordinance No XX of 1984. He implemented its strict clauses to contain and corner the Ahmadis in Pakistan. Ironically, Ahmadis are non-Muslims only in the geographical boundaries of Pakistan while considered Muslims in rest of the World.

Furthermore, in 1985, Gen Zia replaced the joint electorate system with the separate electorate, which further augmented the agonies of Ahmadis. Because of separate electorate system, Ahmadis have to contest the elections as a non-Muslim minority, which is not acceptable to Ahmadis. It seemed a tactic of Zia to kick the Ahmadis out of the electoral process. Therefore, Ahmadis are in a continuous boycott of elections of both national and provincial assemblies.

Since 1985, the voter lists are prepared separately, comprising different religious clutches. This punitive step is responsible for the bifurcation in the society, which is entirely against the Jinnah’s slogan of ‘unity, faith and discipline’.

General Pervez Musharraf initiated some changes but could not succeed to replace the system of the separate electorate with the joint electorate because of the massive pressure from the Mullahs. Even later, in reference of 2008 elections, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in a letter No F.1 (6) 2001-cord dated 17 January 2007, clarified that “the competent authority has been pleased to decide that separate supplementary lists of draft electoral rolls for Ahmadis/Qadianis for the electoral areas concerned, wherever they are registered, may be prepared and published…”. Nevertheless, the compilation of these lists is entirely against the demands of Ahmadiyya Muslims.

Moreover, the provisions of 7B and 7C of the Conduct of General Elections, Chief Executive Order No. 7 of 2002 (as amended by C. E. Order No. 15) are now the part of Election Act of 2017. On the other hand, the PML-N’s changes in the Election Act 2017 were also professed as an Ahmadiyya conspiracy by the radical stratums. This further instigated the general socio-political and communal environment, hatred and exploitation against the Ahmadiyya community in Pakistan.

The number of Ahmadi voters in Pakistan in 2013 was about 115,966, but in 2018, this increased and reached approximately 167,505. Ahmadis have two reserved seats in the National Assembly of Pakistan but have no representation because of the boycott. The Lahori Ahmadis, a very small sub-group, has the false representation of Ahmadis in National Assembly without appropriate Ahmadiyya support.

In this critical and hateful environment, Ahmadis couldn’t participate in the elections of 2008 and 2013. Even now in 2018 general elections, the circumstances have not changed. The separate electorate, Ahmadiyya non-Muslim status and separate voter lists for Ahmadis still exist. The state policy of basic human rights denial for Ahmadis is still in practice.

This manipulative situation of Ahmadis violates the Article 21 of the UN Human Rights Charter 1948. Articles 21 provides the safeguard to the process of genuinely, free and fair environment to elect the representatives under “free voting procedures”. Furthermore, this matter is in contradiction to the spirit of justice and articles 3, 4, 36 and 37 of the Constitution of 1973.

Weak political status and critical social and communal conditions of Ahmadis amplify their miseries in Pakistan. They have always remained loyal and sincere with the state and the nation of Pakistan. State-supported discrimination of Ahmadis is ultimately the support of non-state factors. No Ahmadi has ever been implicated in any anti-state or terrorist activity. Their participation in the socio-political structure of Pakistan can make Pakistan progressive and prosperous for the reason that discrimination is not the solution to any communal issue.

http://timesofahmad.blogspot.com/2018/07/perspective-ahmadis-in-pakistans.html

#PakistanElection2018 - Violent Extremist or Political Candidate? In Pakistan Election, You Can Be Both

By Maria Abi-Habib, Shah Meer Baloch and Zia ur-Rehman

Aurangzeb Farooqi is a leader of a political party that is banned in Pakistan for espousing sectarian violence. He faces charges of spreading religious hatred that was linked to the murders of several Shiite activists.

He is also a candidate for national political office, running with the blessing of Pakistani courts.

Mr. Farooqi is among several candidates with ties to Islamist extremist groups who were the subject of last-ditch petitions by activists seeking to bar them from contesting elections this month. An election tribunal threw out those petitions last month, claiming there were not enough valid complaints to justify barring the candidates.

Despite publicly proclaimed campaigns against religious extremism, the ability of candidates like Mr. Farooqi to campaign suggests that far from being curbed, extremists are being encouraged.

This month, a new party called Tehreek-e-Labbaik was approved to run on a platform of punishing those who blaspheme Islam, an issue that has been abused to terrorize the country’s minorities.

Mr. Farooqi and several others running in the July 25 elections are on Pakistan’s terrorism watch list, known as the “fourth schedule.” While that list prevents them from interacting with crowds in public, traveling outside certain areas and using their bank accounts, it does not say whether they can run for office. But activists and antiterrorism law enforcement officers say the restrictions — like organizing public rallies — would prevent them from campaigning.

Their candidacies are all the more remarkable because Pakistan was just returned to a “gray list” by the Financial Action Task Force, a global body based in Paris that fights terrorism financing, for not doing enough to counter terrorists’ ability to operate from Pakistani territory. The country had been off the list since 2015.

To prevent being blacklisted by the task force, which could lead to international sanctions, Pakistan agreed last month to an action plan to crack down on terrorism at home.

But almost simultaneously, Pakistan’s electoral commission was paving the way for candidates with extremist ties to run for office.

Some of the petitioners were victims of the terrorism they say was inflicted upon their communities by candidates like Mr. Farooqi. He is a leader of Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat, a banned radical group that incites hatred and violence against Pakistan’s minority Shiite population. A.S.W.J. is widely believed to be the political front for Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, an even deadlier sectarian militant group with ties to Al Qaeda. The party denies any link.

With all obstacles to his candidacy removed, Mr. Farooqi is running for a parliamentary seat representing Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city, and has a good chance of winning after losing the last election in 2013 by 202 votes.

“Why are these terrorists now allowed to become our parliamentarians?” demanded Asad Gokal, 20, in an interview in Karachi. Mr. Gokal was one of the activists petitioning against Mr. Farooqi’s candidacy. His voice shook with anger as he described the Karachi crowds Mr. Farooqi has agitated in recent years, preaching anti-Shiite sermons that Mr. Gokal believes led to the murder of his uncle and friend. In video clips of Mr. Farooqi’s speeches, he can be seen shouting, “Shia are infidels!”

“I’m a university student,” Mr. Gokal said. “This shouldn’t be my duty — the Election Commission of Pakistan should be monitoring these groups.” Instead, he said, the government is giving them legitimacy.

Muhammad Ahmed Ludhianvi, a Sunni cleric who runs the A.S.W.J. with Mr. Farooqi as his deputy, was quietly taken off the so-called fourth schedule, or terrorism watch list, last month, just as Mr. Ludhianvi announced his candidacy. Yet the party remains on a watch list issued by Pakistan’s National Counter Terrorism Authority.

Military pressure is thought to be behind Mr. Ludhianvi’s removal from the fourth schedule. He was taken off the list by the country’s caretaker government, which forms during every election to ensure that the vote is fair but is not supposed to make these kinds of decisions.

Altaf Khan, spokesman for Pakistan’s permanent election commission, said the commission simply followed court orders. But activists and politicians say the courts are influenced by the military, which has undertaken numerous coups in the country’s modern history.

The military has denied it influences the courts.

“The international community will have to respect the sovereignty and laws of my country,” Mr. Khan said in an interview. If anyone has a complaint against a candidate supported by evidence, he said, “they should let us know.”

Omar Shahid Hamid, the senior police superintendent for Karachi’s southern district, used to conduct regular check-ins with Mr. Farooqi as a member of the police counterterrorism unit. He said he was surprised that Mr. Farooqi’s nomination papers were not rejected, but not that he was running.

“Farooqi has always had an interest in electoral politics and a desire to get mainstreamed, to be accepted as a political force and get rid of his baggage as a militant,” Mr. Hamid said. “They see this as the future, the only way forward with the establishment.” In Pakistan, “the establishment” is code for the military, which is accused by both Pakistan’s former government and the international community of supporting extremist groups to achieve its defense and foreign policy objectives.

The military in recent years has discussed plans to “mainstream” extremists, allowing them to shed their violent pasts and become politicians, according to cabinet members of the previous government who were involved in those discussions. It is a plan opposed by the incumbent government and activists across the country.

Noticeably absent from the list of eligible election candidates are several from the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz. The PML-N formed the previous government and saw its prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, ousted by the Supreme Court last July for failing to disclose assets abroad in his 2013 election application.

Mr. Sharif says the military pressed the courts to disqualify him as prime minister and bar him from future electoral bids.

During his tenure, Mr. Sharif tried to reassert his civilian government’s control of Pakistan’s defense and foreign policy, which the military has had in its firm grip for decades. He also openly challenged the military’s support for terrorist groups and opposed its plans to mainstream radicals.

In the current election, a court decision disqualifying Mr. Sharif’s replacement as prime minister, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, was reversed at the last minute, leaving him barely a month to campaign.

By that time, Mr. Farooqi was already campaigning with confidence in his impoverished Karachi neighborhood, greeting and shaking the hands of dozens one night while sidestepping open gutters clogged with garbage. “Teacher! Teacher!” young voters cried out to Mr. Farooqi, asking to take photographs with him.

“We believe in democratic process,” said Mr. Farooqi, who denies that he is behind sectarian violence. “I am from the area. If I am elected, I will be representative of the people and try to resolve their civic issues.”

#PakistanElection2018 - #PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari addresses Public Gathering at Kuri Road in Rawalpindi

#PakistanElection2018 - PROTEST DEMO HELD AGAINST ECP FOR ALLOWING BANNED OUTFITS TO CONTEST ELECTIONS

Dozens of people from different civil society organisations on Monday staged a demonstration outside the Election Commission of Pakistan’s provincial office in Karachi to protest against its decision of allowing ringleaders of banned takfiri terrorist outfits (Sipah-e-Sahaba/ASWJ and others) to contest polls with difference names.

Mohammad Ali, Khalid Rao, Asad Zaidi, Waleed Mehmood Sheikh and Asad Gokal led the protest.
They lamented removal of proscribed persons’ names from the Fourth Schedule just 21 days before the election and lifting the ban on said terrorist outfits raised many eyebrows. They said that the banned terrorist organisations were involved in several killings and other criminal activities.
The protestors were carrying placards inscribed with the hate remarks made by the banned organisations and their leaders.

http://www.shiitenews.org/index.php/pakistan/item/35041-protest-demo-held-against-ecp-for-allowing-banned-outfits-to-contest-elections

#PakistanElection2018 - Both PML-N, PTI product of dictatorships: Bilawal

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto on Tuesday said that there is no difference between Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and both are products of dictatorship.

“PML-N is a branchild of [former military ruler] Zia, and PTI [Pervez] Musharraf’s,” he said.

The PPP chief said that their contest is not against these political parties but poverty and unemployment.

Earlier addressing media in Islamabad, he criticised politicians for their exchange of harsh words against each other.

"The low level of politics is very dangerous for the future of our country," Bilawal warned.

Taking a hit at PTI chairman Imran Khan and PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif, Bilawal said, "If prominent leaders engage in such exchanges then the youth will think that this is how one is supposed to act."

"We should teach the youth to contribute in a positive way and not that rather than a battle of ideas you have to psychically attack people," the PPP chairman asserted.

He added, "Our country cannot afford this kind of politics."

"My mother [Benazir Bhutto] taught me that how you conduct yourself in life is how you will be taken," he upheld.

Bilawal further thanked the nation for the "warm reception" as he continues to campaign across the country for the upcoming election — the first of his political career. 

The Bhutto family scion stressed that he is focusing on his party's manifesto and the problems currently faced by the country.

"When my party's members and I are in Parliament, we will try our best to resolve the issues of the people," he said.

"We need to apprise the nation of the problems the country is facing because if we do not involve the public then how will we get out of these problems," he stated.

Later, Bilawal addressed a party rally in Bharakahu, Islamabad. 

Vowing to fulfil the promises he's making, the PPP leader said the party has always battled poverty and gave the example of the Benazir Income Support Programme. 

Bilawal also promised to give interest-free loans to women so they could gain financial independence. 

PPP’s history all about saving Pakistan: Bilawal

The PPP chairman, later in the day, arrived at Faizabad in Rawalpindi, where he addressed a party rally.

He said that the PPP has a history of saving and building Pakistan.

“We are not in competition with any political party or politician, we are fighting against poverty and deprivation,” said Bilawal.

The PPP chairman said that his party will resolve every issue through the power of the people. 

https://www.geo.tv/latest/203629-current-low-level-of-politics-dangerous-for-future-of-pakistan-bilawal

Current low-level politics dangerous for #Pakistan’s future: Bilawal

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal BhuttoZardari on Tuesday criticised politicians for their exchange of harsh words against each other.

“The current low-level of politics is very dangerous for the future of our country,” Bilawal warned as he addressed the media in Islamabad.

Taking a hit at Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chairman Imran Khan and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president Shehbaz Sharif, Bilawal said, “If prominent leaders engage in such exchanges then the youth will think that this is how one is supposed to act.”

“We should teach the youth to contribute in a positive way and not that rather than a battle of ideas you have to psychically attack people,” the PPP chairman asserted.

He added, “Our country cannot afford this kind of politics.”

“My mother [Benazir Bhutto] taught me that how you conduct yourself in life is how you will be taken,” he upheld.

Bilawal further thanked the nation for the “warm reception” as he continues to campaign across the country for the upcoming election — the first of his political career.

The Bhutto family scion stressed that he is focusing on his party’s manifesto and the problems currently faced by the country.

“When my party’s members and I are in Parliament, we will try our best to resolve the issues of the people,” he said.

“We need to apprise the nation of the problems the country is facing because if we do not involve the public then how will we get out of these problems,” he stated.

Later, Bilawal addressed a party rally in Bharakahu, Islamabad.

http://www.thesindhtimes.com/pak/07/current-low-level-politics-dangerous-pakistans-future-bilawal/

Bilawal questions why banned organisations are contesting elections

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Monday said the July 25 general elections are being held in an environment of fear.

“We were told that terrorism has been eliminated but terror attacks are still happening. The upcoming elections are being contested in an environment of fear,” the PPP chairman told media in Quetta.

Bilawal was in Quetta to extend condolences to the family of Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) leader Siraj Raisani. He met Raisani’s son at Sarawan House and offered his condolences.

The PPP chairman said allowing some banned organisations to contest the upcoming polls is tantamount to disrespecting democracy and the parliament. “Do we want that terrorists have a role in politics?” he asked. Urging the political parties to speak up against the permission granted to banned organisations to contest the July 25 election, Bilawal said, “In 2013, terrorists declared some parties good and the others bad and for this to repeat in 2018 is condemnable.”

“Security should be the top priority of the caretaker government,” Bilawal said, adding that the nation will defeat terrorists through the power of vote on July 25.

While addressing a press conference in the provincial capital later in the day, Bilawal said he had ‘ideological differences’ with Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz President Shehbaz Sharif. “If PPP has to make an alliance with a party following the July 25 polls, we will see which party’s ideology is the closest to our party manifesto,” he said.

To a question about Imran Khan, Bilawal said, “I cannot keep up with Imran’s U-turns. He says something new every day.” He said, “Imran is constantly criticising other politicians … but the nation now wants to see actions.”

http://www.thesindhtimes.com/pak/07/bilawal-questions-banned-organisations-contesting-elections/

جنگ کے باوجود ایران ،عراق ،افغانستان میں الیکشن ہوئے،عوام خو ف کے ماحول میں ووٹ دیکر دہشتگردوں کو شکست دیں،بلاول بھٹو

چیئرمین پیپلز پارٹی بلاول بھٹو زرداری نے کہا ہے کہ عوام خوف کے ماحول میں ووٹ دیگر دہشتگردوں کو شکست دیں‘جنگ کے باوجود ایران ‘عراق اورافغانستان میں الیکشن ہوسکتے ہیں تو پاکستان میں کیوں نہیں ‘خان صاحب اورمیاں صاحب ہمیشہ غلط بیانی سے کام لیتے ہیں‘ان کیساتھ الیکشن میں اتحاد نہیں ہوسکتا‘نیشنل ایکشن پلان پر پورے ملک میں بہت کم عمل ہوا ،ایسے لگتا ہے وہ کاغذی منصوبہ تھا، کالعدم تنظیموں کوبھی الیکشن لڑنے کی اجازت دیدی گئی ہے ‘ ہمیں بتایاگیاتھاکہ دہشت گردوں کی کمر توڑ دی گئی ہے لیکن سانحہ مستونگ نے اس پر سوالات کھڑے کردیئے ہیں ‘دہشتگردی کی لہر کو روکنا ہوگا،خان صاحب نے پانچ سال میں صرف گالیاں دینے کے علاوہ کچھ نہیں کیا ، ان کی اپنی باتوں میں تضاد ہے‘عمران خان کی لفاظی کو عوام جانتے ہیں ،عوام کو صرف نعروں اور تقاریر سے نہیں ورغلایاجاسکتا‘عمران خان کے یوٹرن کو فالو نہیں کرسکتا، میراعمران خان اور شہباز شریف سے نظریاتی اختلاف ہے ۔ان

خیالات کااظہارانہوں نے پیرکو ساراوان ہاؤس کوئٹہ آمد پر میر سراج رئیسانی کے اہلخانہ سے تعزیت کے موقع پر میڈیاسے بات چیت اور بعد ازاں مقامی ہوٹل میں پریس کانفرنس کرتے ہوئے کیا۔ صحافیوں سے گفتگو میں بلاول بھٹونے کہاکہ ہمیں بتایا گیا تھاکہ دہشت گردی کی کمر توڑ دی گئی ہے لیکن الیکشن مہم کے دوران بڑے سانحات رونما ہوئے جو ہمارے لئے سوالیہ نشان ہے‘ مجھے امید ہے کہ 25جولائی کو عوام بلاخوف وخطر ووٹ کاسٹ کرنے کیلئے نکل کر دہشتگردوں کو شکست دینگے‘2018ءکے انتخابات خوف کے ماحول میں ہورہے ہیں‘ہر کسی کو انتخابی مہم کے حوالے سے مکمل آزادی حاصل ہونی چاہئے۔

https://jang.com.pk/news/522106#_