Bilawal calls Modi butcher of Gujrat and Kashmir

KARACHI: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Sunday called Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi the butcher of Gujrat and Kashmir.

“I have said that Modi is an extremist and there should be no hopes attached to him,” Bilawal said during his address at the PPP rally which reached its final destination in Karsaz.

During his address, Bilawal said the Indian prime minister blames Pakistan to divert attention from atrocities being committed in occupied Kashmir.

The PPP chairman highlighted the plight of the Kashmiris saying they were struggling for their right to self-determination.  He regretted that some parties had boycotted the joint session of parliament on the Kashmir issue.

According to Bilawal the fight between virtue and evil had not ended, adding that the PPP always sided with the oppressed. 

“Shahnawaz was poisoned to death and Murtaza was gunned down,” Bilawal said.

The PPP chairman said he is the legatee of the martyrs of October 18 and December 27.  

Bilawal’s four demands from the government

The PPP chairman during his address at Karsaz also made four demands from the government.

1.       Parliamentary committee on national security be formed

2.       PPP’s Panama bill should be passed

3.       Asif Zardari’s resolution on CPEC should be implemented

4.       A foreign minister should be appointed immediately

Bilawal said if these demands were not met an announcement for a long march would be made on December 27.  

The PPP chairman was critical of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s policy stating they were the reason Pakistan had been weakened. He questioned why the National Action Plan (NAP) was not being implemented throughout the country. “Mian sahib you have failed in implementing the National Action Plan.”

Bilawal takes jibes at political opponents

Earlier, while addressing the rally in Lyari, Bilawal said people had become so disappointed that the task of hunting a lion was given to a sportsman, in an apparent reference to Nawaz Sharif and Imran Khan.

In his address, Bilawal Bhutto did not spare rival parties. "The kite being operated through phone has been cut off," he said.

"Jiyalas need not worry as 'Arrow' has left the bow," the PPP chairman added.  He said that the people of Lyari always stood up against every type of dictatorship.

Bilawal said that Lyari’s peace was destroyed systematically, adding that the people of Lyari always stood with his mother and grandfather.

“My grandfather and mother never disappointed you,” PPP chairman said to the crowd.

After such a long time, security agencies gave permission to come out, said Bilawal.

Before Bilawal's speech, party leaders Khursheed Shah and former Chief Minister Sindh Qaim Ali Shah also addressed the rally participants.

Bilawal pays tribute to Benazir, Karsaz martyrs

Earlier, addressing the rally at Bilawal chowrangi, the PPP chairman paid tribute to Shaheed Benazir Bhutto and the victims of the Karsaz bomb attack. He said Shaheed Benazir Bhutto wanted to free the public from sectarianism and dreamed of a Pakistan free from terrorism, poverty, unemployment and racial hate.

"Benazir Bhutto came to Pakistan as ray of hope for the public," Bilawal said, adding that the 18 October attack was an attack on people's hopes.

He hailed Karachi as the heartbeat of Pakistan, calling it the "Koh-i-noor" in Sindh’s crown. He said he has brought change in Sindh and is bringing changes in the party. 

"We will change Pakistan if the public supports us," Bilawal said to his audience. 

The Pakistan People's Party (PPP) took out what it said was a historic rally in Karachi on Sunday to honour martyrs of Karsaz, who were killed in a bomb attack on slain prime minister Benazir Bhutto's homecoming rally nine years ago.

The 'Salam Shuhuda' rally was led by party chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, who rode in a special bomb-proof truck and was guarded by 'Jaanisaran-e-Benazir Bhutto (Benazir Bhutto's loyalists)'.

The rally started from Bilawal House roundabout near Clifton, where Bilawal Bhutto addressed the party workers and supporters.

The 'Salam Shuhuda' rally reached Lee Market, making its way through Boat Basin, Maulvi Tameezuddin Road, Jinnah Bridge, Kharadar Jamatkhana and Kakri Ground.

After that, the rally passed through Ranchor Line to reach MA Jinnah Road near Saeed Manzil, from where it proceeded to Mazar-e-Quaid.

From Mazar-e-Quaid, the PPP caravan made its way to Karsaz all the way through Khudadad Colony, Shahrah-e-Quaideen and Shahrah-e-Faisal.

Earlier today, a suspicious looking man was detained from outside of Bilawal House. He was caught making a video in front of the PPP chief's residence. 

The Karsaz bombing, which targeted the motorcade carrying former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, had left at least 180 people dead and another 500 wounded on October 18, 2007.

She was assassinated in Rawalpindi only two months following the Karsaz incident.