Bilawal raps PM for letting Musharraf leave country
PPP chief says PML-N govt has borrowed record Rs45t so far
islamabad — Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has hit out at the government for letting former military ruler Pervez Musharraf abroad despite the fact that he was facing a slew of court cases, including one on treason charges and murder of mohtarma Benazir Bhutto.
He was addressing a huge rally in Garhi Khuda Bux which was organised to mark 37th death anniversary of PPP founding chairman Zulfikar Ali Bhutto who was hanged by military dictator Ziaul Haq in 1979.
Musharraf travelled to Dubai on March 18 after the government struck his name off the Exit Control List after Supreme Court ruling.
“Mian Sahib, how can the man responsible for the murder of my mother and facing treason trial under Article 6 of the constitution leave the country,” Bilawal said addressing Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Musharraf has also been nominated in the assassination of PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto.
“Why do we have two systems — one for the Bhuttos and the other for Musharraf?” Bilawal asked.
He blamed the PML-N government for ballooning external debts, saying the government has borrowed around Rs45 trillion so far in its tenure. “Mian Sahib, have pity on poor Pakistanis,” he said, adding that only declining global oil prices have saved the country. But taxpayers’ money is being wasted on mega infrastructure projects. “Mian Sahib, the poor want bread, while you offer them metro bus. And when they demand better health and education facilities, you come up with Orange Line train,” said the PPP chairperson.
Bilawal also accused Premier Sharif of doling out national assets to his cronies under the garb of privatisation. “Please stop this otherwise you will be responsible if democracy is derailed,” he said. “If you don’t know how to deal with these matters, learn some politics from Asif Ali Zardari.”
He underpinned the conflicting approaches adopted by the interior minister and the defence minister when protesters laid a siege to Islamabad late last month.
The PPP leader slammed the premier for his recent address to the nation after Lahore blast. “Mian Sahib, this time too you disappointed the nation. Had the antiterror National Action Plan (NAP) been implemented in letter and spirit, the [Islamabad] protesters would not have been able to deliver hate-speeches in front of parlia-
Why do we have two systems — one for the Bhuttos and the other for Musharraf?
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari
ment for four days,” he said. He also criticised the interior minister, saying Chaudhry Nisar had in the past conducted Press conferences against the opposition but went missing in the aftermath of the Lahore blast.
Expressing his amazement at reports that RAW agents were arrested from Ramzan Sugar Mills owned by the prime minister, Bilawal accused the PML-N government of forgetting the Kashmir issue.
Bilawal said Nawaz Sharif ’s silence and absence of a clear coun- ter-terrorism policy is only strengthening the terrorists. He said how come the ‘murderer’ of Benazir Bhutto was allowed to leave the country. “Why there are two parallel systems in the country: one for Musharraf and the other for Zulfikar Ali Bhutto,” he added.
He said the ruling N-League lacks the capacity to take on the presentday challenges and warned Nawaz Sharif that the policies of the incumbent government may lead to the rollback of the democratic setup.
He said whenever the interior minister intends to criticise the opposition, he holds a three-hour long Press conference.
“When Lahore is set on fire, the interior minister conveniently becomes a missing person,” he added.