PPP protests political victimisation of opponents

PESHAWAR: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, on Tuesday staged a demonstration against the political victimization of opponents and shifting of party leader Syed Khurshid Shah to jail from the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD).

Led by the party’s provincial president Najmuddin Khan, former provincial minister Syed Zahir Ali Shah, Abid Ali Shah, Razaullah Chagharmati and other office-bearers, protesters gathered outside the Peshawar Press Club.

They were carrying banners and placards inscribed with slogans against the government and in favour of the opposition leader.

The PPP activists chanted slogans against the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government and National Accountability Bureau (NAB). They accused the government of using NAB to victimise its political opponents. The activists also blocked the main road for a while, creating a traffic problem.

Speaking on the occasion, Najmuddin Khan, former provincial minister Syed Zahir Ali Shah, former PPP candidate Misbahullah and others criticised the government for using national institutions against its political opponents.

They said that Khurshid Shah was under treatment at the hospital and the government would be held responsible if any harm was done to the senior party leader in jail.

“We can’t not be pressured through such tactics. The military dictators had also tried to suppress the political opponents in the past and the selected rulers would also fail to force the rivals into submission through coercive tactics,” said one of the speakers.

The PPP leaders observed that the wrong and immature policies of the rulers had made life miserable for the people. Instead of honouring their commitments with the people, they said, the rulers had snatched jobs from them.

They said the rulers were making tall claims but always took a U-turn and thought that it could deceive the people through attractive slogans.

They urged the government to stop political victimisation of opponents and solve people’s problems. They said the NAB should hold investigations into the mega corruption cases, including BRT, Malam Jabba as well as sugar and flour scandals.