Skip to main content

At Quetta rally, Zardari calls Balochistan ‘heart of Pakistan’

Ex-president Asif Ali Zardari on Thursday called Balochistan the “heart of Pakistan”, lamenting that this view was not shared by Islamabad or the other provinces.

He made the remarks while addressing a rally in Quetta to mark the party’s 56th foundation day in an effort to improve its prospects in the province in the run up to the general elections.

“Pakistan has everything. And Balochistan is the heart of Pakistan. Unfortunately, Islamabad does not see that Balochistan is the heart. The other provinces do not see it [either],” he lamented.

“But we see that Balochistan is the heart of Pakistan. And it is very important to win over this heart. Without winning over the heart of Balochistan, we cannot fix Pakistan.”

Zardari said that there was “grief” prevalent in the province, which needed to be addressed.

“There is much grief […] in Balochistan and we need to address that. We tried to do it in our time but it was not enough,” he said, adding that PPP wanted the people of Balochistan to take ownership of their land and resources.

He said that he would ensure water was made accessible for the people of the province. “Pakistan becomes an export country when Balochistan has [access to] water,” he said.

“We have formulas available on how to develop Pakistan, how to strengthen Balochistan, and how we have to serve you,” he added.

Commenting on his son PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, the ex-president — in an apparent slip of the tongue — said, “My son, by becoming the youngest prime minister of Pakistan, raised Pakistan’s honour and flag.”

During the previous tenure of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) government, Bilawal had served as the foreign minister, the youngest ever to do so.

“Everyone knows him now. Some knew him because of his mother, some people knew him because of his father and some knew him because of his grandfather but today they know him because of his own identity,” he said.

“In all seasons and at all times, we have to support him […] we have to transfer what we know […] we want to make Bilawal the leader of the youth,” he said.

“We will redefine Pakistan, we are not weak, you are not weak,” he said as he wrapped up his speech.



from The Dawn News - Home https://ift.tt/HZRQo3K
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Explainer: Iran’s economy faces rocky road amid rising prices, falling currency

Iran’s economy is going through one of its most difficult periods in years, fueled by sanctions, high inflation, and a significant drop in the value of the national currency, the rial. These pressures have had a direct impact on living standards and have also fueled recent protests. The protests began on Dec. 28 in commercial hubs in the capital Tehran, when shopkeepers, merchants, and small business owners staged strikes and demonstrations to protest soaring inflation, the collapsing rial, and deteriorating economic conditions, and have since grown into nationwide anti-government expressions of discontent involving workers, students, and others across multiple cities. The Iranian president said Sunday that his government is determined to address Iran’s economic problems amid the protests. Masoud Pezeshkian said the government admits to “shortcomings and problems” and is working hard to alleviate the people’s concerns, especially on the economy. Currency collapse at the centre of c...
Post a Comment
Read more

Mitchell Starc surpasses Wasim Akram as most prolific left-arm pacer in Test history

Australian veteran Mitchell Starc became the most prolific left-arm paceman in Test history on Thursday, surpassing Pakistan great Wasim Akram. The 35-year-old bagged England’s Harry Brook at the Gabba in Brisbane on day one of the day-night second Ashes Test for his 415th wicket since his debut at the same ground 14 years ago. It moved him past Wasim, widely recognised as the greatest left-arm bowler the sport has seen. Wasim played 104 Tests for his 414 wickets with Starc reaching the milestone in his 102nd, helped by a career-best 7-58 in the first innings of the opening Ashes Test at Perth. Starc is now 16th on the all-time wicket-taker list and could move above both India’s Harbhajan Singh (417) and South Africa’s Shaun Pollock (421) in the current pink-ball Test. After that he will have New Zealand’s Richard Hadlee (431) in his sights. from Dawn - Home https://ift.tt/xclHiX2
Post a Comment
Read more

Global reaction to potential Israel-Hezbollah ‘spiral of violence’

World leaders on Tuesday sounded the alarm over fears of a wider conflict after Lebanon suffered its deadliest day in two decades in Israeli air strikes on Hezbollah strongholds. After nearly a year of cross-border fire since the Gaza offensive erupted, Israeli bombardment on Monday killed 558 people in Lebanon, including 50 children, according to the country’s health ministry. The toll — the highest since Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah went to war in mid-2006 — raised fears of an all-out conflict engulfing the Middle East. ‘Tens of thousands’ flee: UN UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was “gravely alarmed by the escalating situation… and the large number of civilian casualties, including children and women,” his spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. “Tens of thousands of people were forced from their homes yesterday and overnight, and the numbers continue to grow,” United Nations refugee agency spokesman Matthew Saltmarsh said in Geneva. ‘Spiral of violence’: US Israel’s clo...
Post a Comment
Read more