Bilawal kick-starts march to dislodge PM Imran

KARACHI: Heralding the morning of a “ war on Prime Minister Imran Khan and his government”, Pakis­tan Peoples Party (PPP) workers and sympathizers led by president Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Sunday began to march towards the civil capital from the Quaid-i-Azam’s tomb with the pledge that the long march would demonstrate that Imran Khan’s government had lost the nation’s trust.

Charged workers of the Sindh’s ruling party, including women and children, turned up in large figures to share in what they called a “ final drive” against the “ weakened and unjust” government at the Centre, as the PPP president raised a 38- point duty of demands and called for a civil and unified movement of all opposition parties to bring down the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) rule.
After travelling for further than eight hours, the caravan made its first layover at Sujawal, where large crowds joined it and heeded to their leader, before leaving for Matli for an late stay.

In his loud, clear and strong- articulated speech, Mr Bhutto-Zardari sounded confident about the success of theanti-inflation crusade of the opposition parties and described the long march as the‘ beginning’of the end of the premier’s rule through a‘no- trust move’in the congress.

“ You (people of the country) have heralded a war and let me tell you that Islamabad is pulsing,” the PPP president said to the roar of the crowd at the Mazar-i-Quaid before leaving Karachi.

“ This storm of public wrathfulness against Niazi and his government is just the morning of what lies ahead. From now onwards for the coming 10 days, people from across the country would shoot him communication of their sentiments and make preamble. It’s a morning. It’s a morning of an end. It’s morning of a new period. It’s a morning of a consummation ( prevailing) among the millions that how their dreams were snared over the last three times and their expedients were stolen in the name of change.”

While bidding farewell to the PPP president for his 10- day trip from Karachi to Islamabad, his youngish family Aseefa Bhutto-Zardari before tied an Imam-Zamin on his arm and supplicated for him. A videotape clip of the occasion participated on social media stirred feelings as it reminded numerous of their mama and takenex-premier Benazir Bhutto’s caravan, which was hit by binary blasts in 2007. Participating their prints on social media, Ms Aseefa supplicated for the success of her family’s part in leading the caravan that would cover kms and pass through 35 metropolises to reach Islamabad on March 10.

Mr Bhutto-Zardari arrived a little before 1 pm, as workers awaited anxiously at Mazar-i-Quaid for their leader, and made a speech before leading the caravan via Sharea Faisal to leave the harborage megacity by evening after marching for further than five hours on different roads.

For Pakistan, the PPP president said, the last many times had been disastrous. “ Workers are unemployed, growers aren’t paid for their labour, manufactories are closed and nonages are under attack. These rudiments are right now shaping up the foundation of our society. This governance seeks to divide, polarise and sabotage. The PPP has always sought to unite. We need to unite against the felonious governance and end this reign of lawlessness and injustice,” he said.

Before, the party released a 38- point duty of demands, seeking social development programme, electoral reforms, effective justice system, sustainable profitable policy, and a strong foreign policy aimed at connecting Pakistan with rest of the world rather of the way that were segregating the country with the transnational community.

The PPP president called the PTI government a‘fascist governance’ made every attempt to strangle political reason in the country before turning to monkeyshine the media and freedom of expression through a black law. “ It’s a reflection of the senses this government is losing as it has now come up with the law (Pakistan Electronic Crime Amendment Ordinance) to silence all critical voices,” he said.

“ The illegal, unskillful governance foolishly seeks to enslave us, and this governance will be defeated like the fascist administrations of the history and will be consigned to the tip of history. This governance has to be defeated and it has to be defeated now.”

Forlornness, poverty, and helplessness weren’t the fortune of the people of Pakistan, the PPP president said, adding that the people had endured and prevailed over absolutism and fascism before as well and would do it again.

“ (Since) the extremity is deep, our response needs to be robust and critical,” said Mr Bhutto-Zardari. “ Now the time has come for a final drive. We’ll march the length of the country and demonstrate beyond any iota of mistrustfulness that this government has fully and unanimously lost the confidence of the people of Pakistan and that there’s no moral, legal or political reason for it to remain in power any longer. Each day that this illegal and immoral governance spends in power means further poverty, further injustice, further atrocity and further fascism. This is a cost that people of Pakistan and the PPP aren’t willing to bear.”