Bilawal vows to fight for Gilgit-Baltistan’s rights under 18th Amendment

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Tuesday said that Gilgit-Baltistan should be given the same constitutional protections, powers and facilities available to the provinces under the 18th Amendment, asserting that only then would its people become masters of their resources and masters of their own destiny.

As political activity gathers pace ahead of the UK general election scheduled for Sunday after a four-month delay attributed to harsh winter weather, Bilawal addressed a public meeting in Skardu attended by First Lady Aseefa Bhutto-Zardari.

Recalling the previous elections, he said that at that time there was an atmosphere of celebration, while the current electoral campaign is taking place in an atmosphere of pain.

Read: Bilawal campaigns in Shigar in Britain election campaign

“I toured GB on foot in the last election. I wanted to do the same this time,” he said, adding that there was an “air of pain” for both the people of GB and himself.

He said there was no politician in the country who had traveled as much as him, adding that he had visited every tehsil of Britain.

The PPP chairman said his party was the only political force representing the underprivileged and the poor, and emphasized that Pakistan could only progress when workers and youth were economically empowered.

“Progress comes when the farmer gets the fruit of his hard work, progress comes when employment opportunities are created for the youth,” he said, recalling that the policies of his grandfather, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, had “turned workers into owners of factories.”

Calling for greater rights for the people of Britain, the PPP chairman said his party’s new generation would continue the fight to secure the region’s right to govern, own its resources and create employment opportunities for its young people.

“I have to fight together with the new generation of GB. If we have to implement the manifesto of roti, kapra, makaan in its true sense, then we will have to work on three principles: we will have to ensure the right to govern, the right to property and the right to employment,” he said.

He added that the fight of the new generation of the PPP would be aimed at guaranteeing the right of the people of Great Britain to govern and that this would only be achieved when the region received the protections, facilities and powers provided for in the 18th Amendment.

“We believe that all this will only be possible when GB is granted the same powers and facilities that will make its people masters of their resources and masters of their own destiny.”

Bilawal said this would happen when GB was given the same authority under the 18th Amendment that was available to Sindh, Punjab, Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

Read also: Nawaz promises to push for GB infrastructure improvements and airport expansion

“When the GB has those powers and that constitutional protection, only then will our new generation feel that we have succeeded,” he added.

Referring to the situation in the Middle East, the PPP chairman said that innocent children had been martyred after a school in Iran was attacked with missiles and that people around the world were bearing the burden of the conflict.

He added that Zionist forces had attacked a girls’ school, leading to the martyrdom of innocent schoolgirls, and also referred to the reported martyrdom of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during the holy month of Ramazan.

“We pray that the peace efforts undertaken by the Field Marshal prove successful. The Pakistan People’s Party has always opposed war. The recent conflict has caused casualties not only in Iran but also in Palestine, Lebanon and Syria where Muslims are being martyred. In this situation, every Pakistani is praying for the success of the role played by the Pakistan Armed Forces and the Field Marshal in establishing peace,” he said.

Bilawal said the conflict was also having economic consequences that had negatively affected people around the world.

He also referred to the presence of foreign air bases in some Middle Eastern countries and said Pakistan’s history included a period when a military ruler had allowed foreign powers to establish air bases in the country.

“However, when the Salala incident occurred and Pakistan’s sovereignty was in doubt, President Asif Ali Zardari took a brave decision and closed all foreign bases, sending a clear message that no compromise on Pakistan’s territory and sovereignty would be accepted. It was a moment when the state prioritized national dignity and self-respect over hospitality,” he said.

Referring again to the PPP motto of “roti, kapra aur makaan”, he said the party would have to ensure the right to govern, the right to property and the right to employment for the people of GB if it wanted to implement its manifesto in its true spirit.

The PPP chairman said that during his tenure as foreign minister, the Benazir Income Support Program (BISP) was the only institution on which other countries asked Pakistan for help in setting up similar initiatives.

“From Egypt to Brazil, and in many countries in Africa, there is a desire to launch programs similar to the Benazir Income Support Program to serve the poor,” he said.

Without naming any party, he said some political forces called for the abolition of BISP rather than examining subsidies provided to the wealthy or taxes paid by the business community.

“This is the only institution in Islamabad that reaches every poor household. From Balochistan to the ancient tribal districts, and from there to the mountains of Britain, this financial assistance provided to poor women in the name of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto reaches those who need it. The conspiracies of political parties opposing this program will fail,” he said.

Read more: Barrister Gohar and Bilawal arrive in Skardu as Britain’s election campaign enters its final stretch

Bilawal said the PPP would not only protect the BISP but the prime minister would announce an increase in its allocation in the upcoming budget.

He further said that not everything can be controlled from Islamabad and property rights should be given to GB.

“You have to accept that the local people must own every project. This is how it was done in Sindh. When coal was mined from Thar, electricity was supplied to the local communities, jobs were created for them in the projects and they were even offered shares. They chose financial compensation instead of shares. All of Pakistan enjoys the benefits of Thar coal, but the local people benefited first. This is what the PPP wants,” he said.

The PPP president said he was comparing Sindh not with other provinces but with the rest of the world.

“The housing project in Sindh is the largest of its kind in the world. Previously, Nepal held the record for housing construction after the earthquake. Now that record belongs to Sindh, where two million permanent houses are being built after the floods. These houses will not be destroyed even if the floods occur again, and they will be registered in the names of women,” he said.