We will try to bury the politics of hatred and division: Bilawal

F.P. Report
LARKANA: Chairman Pakistan People’s Party and Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has said that Imran Khan was brought to power once by rigging, but he will not be allowed to get power through the back door for the second time. He further said that the message to all stakeholders is that we have to save democracy and institutions.
Addressing the gathering held on the 44th martyrdom anniversary of the country’s first elected Prime Minister, Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the PPP Chairman said that on April 4, Pakistanis around the world miss Qauid-e-Awam very much.
He said that President Asif Ali Zardari had sent a Presidential Reference to the Supreme Court regarding the judicial murder of Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, but it has not been taken for hearing yet. “While on the one hand the Quaid-e-Awam was martyred, on the other hand the constitution made by him was repeatedly violated, the reforms introduced by him were declared unconstitutional and the rights given to the backward classes including women were also revoked”, he pointed out.
Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, giving a historical reference, said that after the seizure of power by dictator Ziaul Haq and another dictator Pervez Musharraf, the Supreme Court (SC) was asked whether these actions were legitimate, then the superior courrt had declared them legitimate. He said that after the restoration of democracy in 1988, the government established by the Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto was allowed to run for just 18 months and the government was dissolved on the basis of a newspaper column, but this action was endorsed by the SC. He said that even in 1996, the government of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto was overthrown and the judiciary did not restore it. A judge of that bench wrote in his dissenting note that the SC refused to restore the government of the Prime Minister from Sindh for the second time, while the Prime Minister belonging Punjab was restored.
Referring to the murder case of Shaheed Mir Murtaza Bhutto, he said: “The murder also happened to a member of our family and we were blamed for that.”
Chairman PPP said that the SC not only confirmed Musharraf’s seizure of power, but also allowed him to amend the constitution, adding that former Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhary was also part of the bench that approved Musharraf’s coup. He said that President Asif Ali Zardari was unjustly imprisoned until 2005 during Musharraf-regime, adding that General Musharraf had once apologized for keeping President Asif Ali Zardari in jail, but this was taken as NRO and a hue and cry was raised unnecessarily across the country and Justice Chaudhry declared it null and void. “Chaudhry Iftikhar’s action was extremely ridiculous, who after restoration to the post, avoided even to look at the General Musharraf, who actually ousted him, rather removed the elected Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani in order not to violate the constitution,” he added.
Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that since the time of former Justice Iftikhar Chaudhary, dictatorship has been going on in the judiciary, and a one-man show is going on. “If we do not accept dictatorship in Parliament, then we cannot accept dictatorship in judiciary”, he added. He questioned: “At the moment, who will save the Supreme Court from the Supreme Court, who will save the judiciary.” He said that problems have arisen in the past as well, but it has not happened that all the other judges have expressed no confidence in the three judges.
Chairman PPP said that his party has tolerated a lot and can provide many examples in this regard, but now enough is enough! He said that during the Imran Khan regime, ailing Faryal Talpur was dragged from the hospital on the night of Eid and locked up in Rawalpindi jail, but no one bothered about the law and rights at that time.
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that if a Chief Justice wants to build a dam, he can collect funds for it. Former Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed was fond of seeing the Karachi of 1970s, and the houses of the poor were demolished in the name of encroachment. “The former establishment and the former Supreme Court also rigged the election,” he added. He said that we want no one may raise a finger on the upcoming election, therefore the PPP demands that there should be a fair and transparent election in the country and that everyone should have a level playing field. “The people should be allowed to decide who will become the prime minister,” he added.
Foreign Minister said that on the issue of election against Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani, the judiciary had said that it cannot interfere in the matter of Parliament. But when it comes to “Takht Lahore”, the rules change. “In order to fulfill a promise to someone, the constitution was violated, an unconstitutional verdict was delivered and the government in Punjab was given to Chaudhary Parvez Elahi from PDM,” he pointed out.
Chairman PPP said that there is weight in the concerns of his party allies regarding the current situation, adding that the allies say that the game being played with the nation and its destiny is malicious. He emphasized that in order to stop this constitutional crisis, we demand that the Supreme Court should form a larger bench, in which all the judges except the two judges who were caught talking to the opposition on the phone are part of it. He said that we want the mistakes made in the past not to be repeated, adding that we want Chief Justice Umar Atta Bandial to be remembered as the judge who saved Pakistan. “All the judges, including our Chief Justice, are appealed to save Pakistan, because the fight for the “Takht-e-Lahore” will sink the whole of Pakistan,” he warned.
Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that because of the ego of the three judges, if anything happens tomorrow, only his party’s leaders and workers will go to jail and fight for the democracy. He warned that if this crisis continues, neither Shahbaz Sharif nor Imran Khan will come to power, rather, the people of Pakistan will have to bear the consequences of such situations. He said that if Pakistan and institutions remain divided due to ego, then the people will have to bear the consequences. “We will try to bury the politics of hatred and division, and this is our message for the whole of Pakistan that neither yours nor mine, Pakistan belongs to all of us,” he concluded.