KARACHI: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said on Saturday that he was owed an explanation by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on fighting extremism.
“I am a victim of terrorism. I am the son of Benazir. My mother has lost her life in this situation and Nawaz Sharif owes me an explanation. Is he or is he not fighting extremism in Pakistan?” Bilawal told journalists after visiting Dr Asim Hussain at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre where he is being treated after suffering a paralysis attack.
Bilawal stressed that it was the PPP which had brought everyone together for the National Action Plan (NAP). “We made the lion fight terrorists. We told the player this is not a game. We brought all of them together but instead of seeing Taliban behind bars we see Dr Asim and the mayor of Karachi behind bars. What message are we sending to the world?”
Bilawal said he will hold a meeting of senior PPP leaders regarding NAP. “I am holding a meeting of senior party leaders to consult them. If the PPP in the current situation can support the NAP. I believe the NAP is a good idea. The armed forces and police are doing their job, but that is one element not a single other point has been implemented by our third time PM Nawaz Sharif.”
He added that the PPP will not cower down as it had faced political trials in the past too.
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that the prime minister was using the Karachi operation to target political opponents, “whether it is Dr Asim Hussain, or whether it is the mayor of Karachiâ€.
“I want to remind all of you that this not a cleric from Lal Masjid, this is Dr Asim Hussain, whose Ziauddin Hospital has been treating people of this city for generations.â€
He said that the federal government was targeting Karachi through its operation adding the Dr Asim Hussain was the only politician who was tried through the Anti-terror act and kept in Rangers custody for 90 days.
“Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif has been using this operation to take political benefits for himself. He is specifically using this to target Sindh province,” he said.
He said that the anti-terror act was to be specifically used against terrorists. “The terrorists are killing our security officials.