Bilawal, Maryam out to save their ‘fathers’, says Fawad

ABBOTTABAD: Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry Saturday said Bilawal and Maryam both were in fact busy with their “Abbu Bachao” (save father) campaigns knowing nothing about the relationship of Pakistanis and Kashmiris as was evident from their speeches.

Addressing party workers here, he reminded the AJK people that it was Maryam Safdar that at her daughter’s marriage ceremony Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the special guest. Likewise, he said, Bilawal did not know that Pakistan had fought three wars with India on the Kashmir dispute. He said both Bilawal and Maryam knew nothing as to how to run the national economy, as they had practically done nothing to earn even a single rupee. “They are born with golden spoons in their mouths, as their fathers — Asif Zardari and Nawaz Sharif — had built empires abroad and purchased palaces for them in major world cities. Both Zardari and Nawaz, while in power, looted and plundered the national wealth and now they were facing cases and were unable to take part in election campaign,” he added. “Even one of them has absconded abroad,” the minister added.

He said Maryam and Bilawal knew nothing about the problems of the poor as they had never traveled by public transport. He said the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had already broken “political idols” in Pakistan and Gilgit-Baltistan under the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan and would now win the AJK Legislative Assembly elections too. He said both the political novices — Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Maryam Safdar — had campaigned for their respective party candidates in the GB; however, they got frustrated when they realized that their parties had failed to field candidates for many GB Legislative Assembly seats.

“They are facing the same situation in the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), where the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) could not find candidates in many constituencies,” he added. Fawad said both the parties in fact had no political culture, as they were being run by two royal families. One had a “Maharani”‘ and the other a “Maharaja” at the helm, who had no respect for their party leaders and even treated their parties’ former prime ministers like slaves,” he continued. Pakistanis and Kashmiris, he said, were one nation and no one could separate them.

“There is no graveyard in Jhelum, Abbottabad and Mansehra where the army personnel martyred (at the Line of Control) were not buried,” he added. He said when the federal government came to know that an Indian firm had got rights of live coverage of Pakistan team cricket matches, it immediately revoked the same representing the sentiments of the nation. “The government decided that no business would be done with any Indian entity,” he added. Fawad vowed the PTI government would bring back the looted national wealth stashed by the plunderers abroad. The PTI, he said, came into being as a reaction to the ‘loot and plunder’ of the former ruling parties. The party, he added, in fact represented the lower and lower middle classes, who were totally neglected by the past rulers.

The minister said when the PTI came to power in 2018, Pakistan was on the verge of default and it had to take emergency assistance from friendly countries like China, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to keep the economy afloat.

He said today's economy was stable due to the prudent policies of the present government, as record funds had been allocated for development programmes in the current fiscal year. “Prime Minister Imran Khan is bringing a revolution and Pakistan is destined to become a developed country,” he added. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Speaker Mushtaq Ahmed Ghani, PTI Member of the National Assembly Ali Khan Jadoon, KP Minister for Revenue Qalandar Lodhi and PTI candidate for LA-45 Abdul Majid Khan also addressed the gathering.