March will be in March: Bilawal, Establishment must admit past mistakes: Fazl

KARACHI: The Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) chief, Fazlur Rehman, said on Tuesday that governments do not come to power through "rigging", they come with the power of people’s votes. His remarks came in a public meeting hosted by the PPP in Hyderabad, under the banner of the opposition's Pakistan Democratic Movement.

Fazl said the opposition’s movement, at whose core has been the claim that the 2018 elections were rigged, will reach its destination. "We have all joined hands to restore democracy," said the leader of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (Fazl). "We are not among those to tire out. Movements only go forward with determination," he said. He vowed that the opposition "will not rest until these incompetent rulers are removed". Fazlur Rehman said that these rulers "came through the backdoor like thieves". He said the public meeting was being held to restore the free air of democracy. He said the PDM wanted the establishment to be objective and welcomed the statement by the army that it did not have any relation with politics. But he claimed that "mistakes have been made which will have to be accepted and forgiveness will need to be asked of the nation." He claimed that there was no other way.

He claimed that when the PTI won the 2018 election, the army had congratulated it by saying “we have defeated the enemy”. How it could be then said that the establishment had no connection with the ruling party, asked Fazl. "If you got success, who was it against? If you defeat India, if you free Kashmir, we will honour you but tell us whom the success was against and whom you defeated. If you think the people of Pakistan are your enemies, you should be clear about it."

He said no one should try to teach seasoned politicians the ABC of politics and invited to make those wishing to play politics his students. He went on to say that plans were being forged for "rigging" once more in the upcoming Senate elections.

"They sometime think of amending the Constitution and other times the law," he said, in criticism of the recently-promulgated ordinance to pave the way for open balloting in Senate polls. "We are not in favour of putting our names down on the ballot," Fazlur Rehman said. "This politics will not continue, we have raised our voice for our right and will continue raising it until the time all institutions start working according to the Constitution," the JUI-F chief said. Speaking of the Bundal and Buddo islands, he said that the land belongs to the people of the province. "We will not allow, at any cost, the taking over of the islands by the Federation," he declared. He said that the opposition will "get rid of Covid-18", in another jab at the government.

Referring to the anti-corruption drive being carried out by the National Accountability Bureau, he said that the institution was being "used against people". He then went on to refer to the foreign funding case against the PTI, which is being probed by a scrutiny committee of the Election Commission of Pakistan. He said it was not filed by the opposition, but a founding member of the PTI. "It has been acknowledged that a lot of money from abroad went to Imran Khan's employees," he claimed. Fazlur Rehman said that the movement will be "propelled forward" and for which a long march will set out on March 26 from all over Pakistan for Islamabad and Rawalpindi.

In his speech, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Tuesday censured Prime Minister Imran Khan, saying that "the selected does not want Sindh or its people but covets the islands and the coal there".

He said: "The selected prime minister says that Sindh is not our province. If Sindh is not the prime minister's province, then whose is it?" He questioned how a prime minister can "use such words" for Sindh. The PPP chairman said that the people of Sindh will "safeguard their rights" and safeguard democracy. "We will go to Islamabad and take back our rights," he said.

Bilawal said that Sindh will get a reduced share of the National Finance Commission Award this year by Rs200 bn. "This incomptent government has brought a tsunami of inflation," he said, adding that even though PM Imran Khan had promised a "new Pakistan", what he has delivered is an inflation-hit Pakistan. "This anti-poor government has made life difficult for the people," said the PPP chairman.

In further criticism of the government, he said that the prime minister had once said that he would "commit suicide before going to the IMF (International Monetary Fund)" to ask for loan. What occurred, instead, was that the "biggest loan" to have been sought ever was taken in these last three years. Bilawal said that the prime minister was "giving the elite relief and the poor grief". He asked the people of Hyderabad if they saw even one job being granted to them from the 10 million jobs the premier had promised soon after coming into power. The PPP chairman also reminded them of the PTI's "unfulfilled" promise of five million homes for the under priviledged.

"Imran Khan's government, in the name of anti-encroachment drives, is robbing people of a roof over their heads in Larkana, Hyderabad and other areas (of the province)," he said. He said Pakistan has fallen behind in the region and even countries like Afghanistan and Bangladesh had surpassed it. "If we are ahead in any area, it is inflation," Bilawal said. He said the people have been "suffering from the burden of an incompetent and corrupt government".

"For how long must we endure this puppet? For how long must we endure such experiments?" the PPP chairman asked. He said the people are the source of a country's power, which is why the PDM had been formed. "We will chase these incompetent and unqualified rulers away. There will be a march in March and you must join us," Bilawal said, adding: "I will take a caravan with me from Karachi."

The PPP chairman said that the party's stance was that every institution must operate within its set mandate and "politics must be left to the politicians" and trust put in the people. "The people's decision must be accepted," he said. Earlier, former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi addressed the gathering, promising the people of Sindh their rights "will not be usurped by anyone" but that they must come out and show the opposition support in their long march. Abbasi said: "You will have to come out on March 26. There will be a long march from here towards Islamabad."

Abbasi said that PDM's struggle aims at bringing a change in the system of governance. "We have to restore the system to a parliamentary, constitutional one."

"The solution to inflation, unemployment, the rights not given to provinces, the rights that the people of Pakistan deserve, the solution to Sindh's problems all lies in this. This is our message to you [...] of all the parties you see here today," he said. "It is our promise no one can take your rights from you," the PML-N leader added. He said PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz sends her regrets for not being able to make it due to her daughter Mehrunnisa Safdar's accident a day earlier.

Addressing the rally earlier, Jamiat Ulema-i-Pakistan (JUP) leader Owais Noorani responded to Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Maj Gen Babar Iftikhar's statement that politicians should not drag the army into politics. "You say don’t drag army into politics, no one dragged you into politics. Please say who dragged [the country's first military dictator] Ayub Khan into politics?" Noorani asked. "They say don’t drag us into politics, then who was distributing the Rs1,000 notes at Faizabad sit-in?" Noorani asked the army "to write it down that you will go back to your barracks".

While addressing the rally, National Party President Dr Abdul Malik Baloch said the way the parliament and Constitution were currently being treated should be ended. "Today, islands of Balochistan and Sindh are being occupied by the Centre. Under what law? They belong to Sindh and Balochistan," he said, adding that "they" had looted Balochistan's resources. "Fifty per cent of the Saindak [copper-cum-gold project] is Chinese, 48pc federal government and only two percent of Baloch people. Balochistan will get nothing from the drama in the name of Gwadar Port." The public gathering was hosted by the PPP on the Hatri Bypass Ground. The venue and streets of the city were seen filled with party flags and banners. Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, a day earlier, had claimed that the Hyderabad rally will be bigger than all other PDM rallies of the past.