LAHORE:
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Junior, grandson of former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, has announced plans to launch a new political party, committing to addressing what he called the “real needs of people” in Pakistan, said Express News.
Speaking at a press conference at Lahore Press Club on Saturday, Bhutto Jr. said the time had come to expand his grandfather’s political vision. “After Roti, Kapra Aur MakaanPeople now need electricity, gas and water, ”he said.
The announcement occurs only a few months after Bhutto JR confirmed in March his decision to formally enter politics. At that time, he had expressed the intention of starting his political trip through the Shaheed Bhutto group of the Popular Party of Pakistan (PPP), a faction founded by his father in opposition to the main leadership of PPP.
During Saturday’s press conference, Bhutto JR led strong criticism to President Asif Ali Zardari, accusing him of co -opting the iconic slogan “Jeay Bhutto” Advance corruption instead of defending the legacy of the Bhutto family. “This slogan was destined to serve people, not to allow looting in their name,” he said.
The press event focused on the issue of forced evictions of farmers, particularly in Punjab, where Bhutto JR claimed that corporate agriculture initiatives were displacing local communities. “Corporate agriculture is nothing more than a land grip operation aimed at the livelihoods of poor farmers,” he said.
He asked the silence of the holidays that once claimed to speak for the farmers, including the Pakistan Muslim League and others. “Where are those parties now, when farmers need them more?” asked.
Describing Punjab farmers as the “spine of Pakistan’s economy”, the son of the murdered politician Mirta Murtaza Bhutto, warned against what described the systemic unfolding of rural communities. “Remove the land from people who feed this country is unacceptable,” he said. “Corporate agriculture is not development, it is dispossession.”
Harding a broader mobilization, he warned that if Farmers in Sindh begin to raise their voice as their counterparts have done in Punjab, I would not hesitate to ask for a long march in Islamabad. Although a formal timeline was not announced for the launch of the party, Bhutto JR said that consultations with base movements and progressive groups were already underway.
