PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said on Sunday that if the opposition was willing to fight against terrorism and “we agree on a plan”, governor’s rule and emergency imposed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa could end.
He made these remarks while speaking to the media in Karachi, where he was visiting the Karsaz Monument on the 19th anniversary of the Karsaz bombing.
“If they really want to fight terrorists, and if they want the emergency and governor rule in KP to end, then they should engage with the federal government and politicians and talk about a policy regarding a united fight against terrorism,” Bilawal said on Sunday, referring to the PTI-led opposition.
He added, “If we can create such an environment, we will be in a better position to fight terrorists.”
Bilawal emphasised that if the opposition was also ready to fight terrorism and agree on a plan for it, then the emergency in KP could also be concluded.
“If the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister (Sohail Afridi) was a coward, if he was not ready to defend his homeland, if he was not ready to fight those terrorists, then the PPP is ready to fight them,” Bilawal said.
“That is why we supported the government’s decision to impose governor’s rule in KP.”
He stressed that the party would “join forces with everyone to fight these terrorists”.
In his media talk, the Bhutto scion said the country had reached a point where “terrorist attacks are taking place from Khyber to Khuzdar”.
He regretted that when the government changed in Kabul in 2021, the Pakistani government at that time “also decided to invite the terrorists who were in Afghanistan to come back and live in our Swat, our Malakand, our former tribal areas”. He was referring to then-prime minister Imran’s plans to resettle members of the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan in the country.
Bilawal went on to say that terrorists who were in jail in Pakistan were also freed. “Today, Pakistan is suffering the losses from these wrong decisions,” he lamented.
He added that the country had now once again reached the point where “some forces want to take down Pakistan’s flag in Swat” and there was a fight against terrorism ongoing across the entire country, while security forces, law enforcers and the public were being targeted.
However, he claimed, in the province where the highest number of terrorist incidents were taking place – KP – its chief minister had pledged that he would not face the terrorists.
He said that the PPP had “readied all of society” to fight terrorism by creating an environment for counter-terrorism operations in 2008, when the party was in government.
He emphasised that success was achieved when “every citizen” of Pakistan joined together to fight terrorism, saying, “Today as well, we will make efforts to create an environment where we are all united, and will fight the terrorists together.”
He also said that the PPP made an effort to improve the democratic system by pushing for electoral reforms. To this end, the federal government had decided to establish an electoral reforms committee, Bilawal recalled, adding that he had invited the opposition to join it.
“If they say that democracy is weak in this country, then they should help us to strengthen it,” the PPP chairman said.
“We are not yet at the point where I can say that we have achieved the Pakistan that Benazir Bhutto fought for,” he said, recalling his mother’s efforts. “But we are trying to make that Pakistan.”
Answering a question regarding the creation of new provinces, Bilawal stated that Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi knew “clearly” what the PPP and President Asif Ali Zardari’s policy was regarding new provinces or administrative units, and that this was not the work of the president’s desk.
Asked whether new provinces should be created, he stressed that the PPP’s opinion was clear: that they could be made according to the Constitution and law if the provincial assembly agreed.
He requested politicians, whether on the treasury or opposition benches, not to politicise the issue of terrorism or create controversy out of steps taken to combat it, but rather play their role in fighting it.
He also expressed his faith that JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, a figure who held respect from both sides, could contribute to creating a consensus that could ultimately end the emergency and governor’s rule in KP.