Day: May 23, 2023

Karachi, May 23, 2023 (PPI-OT): Chairman Pakistan People’s Party, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari addressing a public gathering in Bagh, Azad Kashmir to protest India’s violations of international law and UN resolutions by holding the G20 meeting in Indian Illegally Occupied Kashmir said that the entire world is seeing the drama that Modi is orchestrating while the representatives of Pakistan are expressing solidarity with their Kashmiri brethren the very same day. Chairman FM Bilawal thanked the representatives of the provinces and the federation for attending the gathering including representatives of the MQM, JUI and JUP-Noorani.

Chairman FM Bilawal said that this is his first visit to Bagh as the Foreign Minister of Pakistan and he is representing each citizen and party of the country. He said that despite ideological and political differences among political parties, he represents the country as a whole globally. He said that he has been carrying out his duties as the Foreign Minister for a year and in every international interaction, Kashmir remains his priority. “Not only am I representing Pakistan as its Foreign Minister, but also Azad Kashmir and Occupied Kashmir”, Chairman FM Bilawal said. Despite the temporary internal issues that Pakistan is faced with, our fraternal relationship with that of Kashmir is one that is generational. Quaid-e-Awam had promised to struggle for a thousand years for the sake of Kashmir. We are the successors of martyrs and this is their soil, we will always stand shoulder to shoulder with our Kashmiri brothers.

Chairman FM Bilawal said that when he visits the United Nations or any international forum, he always stresses on how the issue is not limited to Pakistan and India but the Kashmiri people and the international world. The UN resolutions state that this issue concerns the entire world, and holding a plebiscite is the sole solution. When I talk of the rights given to the Kashmiri people by the UN, Indian representatives label us ‘terrorists’ in response. When we talk of the Kashmiri people and their rights, they accuse us of representing terrorists. How can they accuse us of engaging in terrorism when we ourselves have been impacted by it and are the victims? Two Jiyalas from Bagh accepted martyrdom on 18 October, 2007.

It is not our problem that India is governed by a political party that is religiously-motivated and Islamophobic. They label me, the son of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, a ‘terrorist’ when I call a ‘butcher’ by his name, Chairman FM Bilawal said. He said that India has developed a habit of receiving demure responses. The real faces of those who labelled us extremists and terrorists have been revealed before the world. They put a price on the head of the Foreign Minister of Pakistan. Owing to the struggle of the Kashmiri people, the world has started accepting the real face of India. We have not let the world forget Kashmir any opportunity we get.

When we were presiding the sessions of the G77 or the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, we were doing so to raise the issue of your right to plebiscite. Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto had strived for her Kashmiri brothers to have an ‘observer status’. We had the OIC Foreign Ministers’ meeting be concluded through the address of the President of Azad Kashmir. Recently, it was decided that we attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s conference in Goa despite not resuming meaningful dialogue with India since August 2019. The decision was made with the foresight to not let India enjoy an open pitch and to present the case of Pakistan in India, before its representatives. We interacted with the Indian media and its people to advocate for peace.

We conducted ourselves in a manner that complied with the SCO’s rules and regulations as an effort to portray the real image of Pakistanis, Kashmiris and Muslims, who are not terrorists. If there are terrorists, they are the ones who spread terror in Gujrat and over the Samjhauta Express. When the status of Indian Illegally Occupied Kashmir is reversed, we, as the pro-peace party in the dialogue, would be willing to talk. Who are they to hold a tourism workshop in Srinagar? The Kashmiri people should be the ones enjoying the fruits of their labour, not Delhi. When half of Occupied Kashmir is imprisoned, and there are ninety thousand soldiers, what kind of tourism are they trying to endorse? The Kashmiri people should not be deceived. If there is any obstacle in resolving the Kashmir conflict, preventing terrorism and allowing for the economic prosperity of the region, it is the Modi rule.

The day that the Kashmiri people utilize their right to vote and plebiscite to attain freedom is not far. The Kashmiri people wish to obtain freedom not through the terror of the gun, but the power of democracy. If the so-called ‘longest running democracy of the world’ is as it claims, why is it afraid of the Kashmiri people and their freedom?

Chairman FM Bilawal raised slogans in favour of plebiscite and voting. The labourers, merchants and workers of Srinagar too raise the same slogans as us. We are grateful to all the nations that have adopted a principled stance as per the resolutions of the UN and international laws. They decided against attending this tourism conference. On my visit to India for the SCO meeting, we had said that they would receive less guests than expected. We would like to salute our Chinese, Saudi and Turkish brethren including all other countries who refused Modi and G20’s invitation for the sake of the Kashmiri people. The countries that did attend either downgraded their participation, or are present in protest. You can take any international publication and see whether their [Indian] aim to portray Kashmir as a normalised region has been achieved. How can they send a message of normalisation when thousands of their soldiers are still in Kashmir?

The Pakistan People’s Party and its Jiyalas will stand with their Kashmiri brothers and sisters till their last breath. He mentioned that this is the first time in history that a Pakistani Foreign Minister has addressed the Kashmiri legislative assembly. Chairman FM Bilawal thanked Zia Qamar for inviting the PPP to Kashmir to protest Modi’s actions. He thanked all political parties, including the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Kashmir and Muslim Conference for helping send a unified message to the world.

For more information, contact:

PPP Media Cell (Sindh)

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP)

Peoples Secretariat Shikarpur Colony,

Behind Mazar-e-Quaid-e-Azam, Karachi, Pakistan

Cell: +92-305-3370383

Email: contact@ppp-tu.com

Website: https://www.ppp.org.pk

Karachi, May 23, 2023 (PPI-OT): Mr. Zulfikar Ali Bader, the Spokesman of Chairman Pakistan People’s Party, Mr. Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, said in his statement that the events of May 9 have forced all the politicians and the establishment to think that Pakistan is facing a greater internal threat than the external threat. When a political party will create its own military wing and carry out terrorist activities, then there is no need for an external enemy to weaken Pakistan. Foreign Minister, Mr. Bilawal Bhutto Zardari stood on the floor of the National Assembly and said that whether we like someone’s face or not, but we tolerate them just for the bigger cause of Pakistan and the people of Pakistan.

All of us should stand together for Pakistan and Democracy. Few days’ back Mr. Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said at the end of his speech that “Na mera Na tera, Hum sab ka Pakistan”. All political parties condemned the events of May 9. If someone has not condemned them, it is only Imran Khan because he is the patron and leader of these events. There was a whole mind-set behind these May 9 events. The planning had already been done that after the arrest of Imran Khan, PTI’s workers and supporters will attack the Corps Commander House, damage military installations and government property. Principally Political Party and its leader should not be banned. But for the terrorism committed by Imran and his political terrorists, strict action should be taken against them according to the constitution and law. Pakistan People’s Party and its leadership believes that all issues should be resolved and such issues cannot be sorted out without the dialogue.

However, no political party will negotiate with Imran Khan unless he admits his mistakes and apologises to the nation and institutions. Mr. Bilawal Bhutto Zardari addressed the special session of the Azad Kashmir Legislative Assembly to express solidarity with the Kashmir Cause and the Kashmiri people to raise their voices against the G-20 meeting in Indian Occupied Kashmir and the Indian oppression and the oppression of the Kashmiri people. He will also address a public meeting in Azad Kashmir.

For more information, contact:

PPP Media Cell (Sindh)

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP)

Peoples Secretariat Shikarpur Colony,

Behind Mazar-e-Quaid-e-Azam, Karachi, Pakistan

Cell: +92-305-3370383

Email: contact@ppp-tu.com

Website: https://www.ppp.org.pk