Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Thursday asked the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) to shun violence and take a political path, saying the Imran Khan-led party needed to decide whether it “Want to be a political party or against. State Party”
May 9 – the day when violence erupted, including attacks on military installations following the arrest of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan from the Islamabad High Court – is a “black day” in Pakistan’s history. celebrated as, Bilawal said. He reiterated that the issues needed to be resolved politically.
Bilawal Bhutto while holding a press conference along with Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah and Provincial Information Minister Sharjeel Memon said that many days in the history of Pakistan are celebrated as ‘Black Day’ and now May 9 has been added to this list. has been given.
Violent protests erupted in Pakistan on Tuesday, injuring dozens in several cities, and protesters attacked military buildings after Khan’s arrest.
In major cities, paramilitary forces and police continued to maintain tension on the streets. Meanwhile, mobile data service was suspended in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and schools and offices remained closed.
Islamabad Police said earlier today that military forces have reached the capital.
Since Khan’s arrest in the Al-Qadir Trust case, protesters have stormed military buildings, vandalized the residence of a top army general in Lahore, and torched government buildings and assets elsewhere.
Criticizing the PTI’s response to Khan’s arrest, the foreign minister said he was arrested on “serious charges” under the law and the constitution.
Asked whether he considered banning PTI, the foreign minister replied: “No decision can be taken on television based on the video evidence that has emerged so far.”
He said he was not in favor of banning PTI for attacking state institutions, adding that he would be the last person to support such a move.
The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chairman said: “I am not in favor of banning anyone. We should adopt the full constitutional and legal procedure to ban PTI.”
However, he added that the idea of declaring PTI as a banned organization was there as a last resort. Furthermore, Bilawal called on PTI workers to end the violent protests, adding that the party had “done what it had to do”.
“PTI should not be harmed further,” he said, adding that the party leadership should declare an end to violent protests and face cases against them.
Bilawal also expressed his wish that such a result should be reached which would bring political stability in the country.
‘PPP never celebrates arrests of political leaders’
“We [PPP] never celebrate the arrest of any political leader because we believe that when political leaders are arrested, it is a loss of politics at large,” he reiterated. That in such circumstances the People’s Party never celebrated or distributed sweets.
Bilawal said the PPP has always been against the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) – an independent anti-corruption agency – and has always believed that the body should be closed. However, PTI has always strongly supported the Bureau.
Khan started a campaign to save NAB when we asked for amendments, he said that we wanted NRO and did not agree on the proposed amendments, he added that now that new rules have been introduced. So the PTI chief has become the beneficiary.
However, Bilawal said that accountability takes place all over the world. He further said that we will also hold NAB accountable as to how successful this institution has been.
He accused Khan of misusing his position as prime minister and said: “Imran Khan has always said that the name of his party is based on justice and everyone should be held accountable.”
Face the music
Drawing parallels between the banned Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) – which has been outlawed as a militant outfit – and the PTI, Bilawal said the former attacked Jinnah House in Balochistan, while the latter had turned his guns towards Jinnah House in Lahore.
“I don’t remember any party carrying out such attacks after two weeks of remand,” he said, adding that our leaders were hanged and we did not attack GHQ. We did not attack the Corps Commander’s house.
Returning to the protests that broke out after Benazir Bhutto’s assassination, the foreign minister said: “After Bibi’s martyrdom, the entire country erupted in anger. However, we gave a political response, and shouted Pakistan Khappe.” .
“We banned violence and said democracy is the best revenge,” he recalled.
He termed the PTI workers and leaders as “political terrorists” and said that those involved in the crimes must be answered.
‘PTI has crossed every red line’
Bilawal asserted that the PTI had decided not to give a political reaction to Khan’s arrest and instead attack the state with “stones, sticks and guns”.
Further, he said: “One attack on GHQ was carried out by Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and another by PTI.”
The PPP chairman claimed that this was not the first time that the PTI had violated the constitution, recalling that Khan had violated the constitution in April – when at his behest Punjab and KP Provincial Assemblies were dissolved – and no action was taken against them.
He then raised the movement that swept Lahore when the police went to arrest Khan at his residence.
“A lot happened when the police arrived to execute the arrest warrant against Khan,” he said, adding that Khan believed the law was for everyone except the PTI.
However, PTI crossed every red line, Bilawal said, adding that it is the responsibility of the state and institutions to enforce the law and the constitution.
“The misunderstanding arose because they believed that anyone can cross the red line,” Bilawal said.
‘What was the fault of People’s Bus Service?’
The foreign minister also criticized the protesters and said that Akbar S. Babar was a PTI member. It was he who brought forward the charge sheet of foreign funding.
What was the fault of the People’s Bus Service? What damage did the KMC water tanker cause to the captain?
He advised all political parties, including the PTI, to shun “anti-state people”.
“The events of the past day have made our efforts to lower the political temperature difficult,” Bilawal said, adding that Khan was neither interested in defending democracy nor democracy itself.
He said that my message to PTI is that if democracy continues, you can survive. He said that all problems are solved by democracy.
He further said that all political stakeholders should work within the ambit of democracy.
‘Was hopeful about negotiations’
Referring to the Supreme Court-directed talks between the government and the PTI, the PPP leader said earlier he was “quite optimistic” that the talks between the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) and the PTI would end. will be successful.
“I was hoping that we would find a political solution because we still want elections to be held on the same date across the country,” he said. However, Bilawal added that things did not go as planned.
