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

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

As political activity picks up pace in the run-up to the UK general elections scheduled for Sunday after a four-month delay attributed to harsh winter weather, Bilawal addressed a public rally in Skardu in the presence of First Lady Aseefa Bhutto-Zardari.

Recalling the previous elections, he said there had been an atmosphere of celebration then, while the current election campaign was taking place in an atmosphere of mourning.

Read: Bilawal campaigns in Shigar on the British election trail

“I walked across Britain during the last election. I wanted to do the same this time,” he said, adding that there was an “air of sorrow” both for the people of Britain and for himself.

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

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

“Progress is when the farmer gets the fruits of his hard work, progress is when employment opportunities are created for the youth,” he said, recalling that the policies of his grandfather, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, had “made the workers the owners of the mills”.

Calling for more 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 job opportunities for its youth.

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

He added that the struggle of the new generation of the PPP would be aimed at securing the right of the British people to govern and that this would only be achieved when the region was given the protections, facilities and powers provided by the 18th Amendment.

“We believe that all this will only be possible when Britain is given the same powers and facilities that will make its people owners of its resources and masters of its own destiny. »

Bilawal said this would happen when Britain would be given the same authority under the 18th Amendment as Sindh, Punjab, Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa had.

Read also: Nawaz pledges to push for UK infrastructure upgrades, airport expansion

“When Britain has these powers and this 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 innocent children were martyred after a school in Iran was targeted by missiles and people across the world were bearing the burden of the conflict.

He added that Zionist forces targeted 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 will be successful. The Pakistan People’s Party has always opposed war. The recent conflict has claimed lives not only in Iran but also in Palestine, Lebanon and Syria, where Muslims are being martyred. In this situation, every Pakistani prays for the success of the role played by the Pakistani armed forces and the Field Marshal for the establishment of peace,” he said.

Bilawal said the conflict also had economic consequences that took a toll on people around the world.

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

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

Again referring to the PPP’s slogan ‘roti, kapra aur makaan’, he said the party should guarantee the right to rule, the right to property and the right to employment for the British people 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 for which other countries sought Pakistan’s help to set up similar initiatives.

“From Egypt to Brazil to many countries in Africa, there is a desire to launch programs similar to the Benazir income support program to serve poor people,” he said.

Without naming any party, he said some political forces were calling for the abolition of BISP rather than looking at subsidies given to the rich or taxes paid by the business community.

“It is the only institution in Islamabad which reaches every poor household. From Balochistan to the old tribal districts, and from there to the mountains of Britain, this financial aid provided to poor women in the name of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto reaches those in need. The plots of political parties opposing this scheme will fail,” he said.

Learn more: Lawyers Gohar and Bilawal arrive in Skardu as UK election campaign enters 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 next budget.

He added that not everything could be controlled from Islamabad and that Britain must be given property rights.

“One has to accept that the local people should own every project. This is how it was done in Sindh. When coal was mined from Thar, electricity was provided to the local communities, jobs were created for them in the projects and they were even offered shares. They chose financial compensation rather than shares. The benefits of Thar coal accrue to the whole of Pakistan, but the local people benefited first. This is what the PPP wants,” he said declared.

The PPP chairman said he was comparing Sindh not with other provinces but with the world as a whole.

“The housing project in Sindh is the largest of its kind in the world. Earlier, Nepal held the record for housing construction after the earthquake. Now this 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 happen again and they will be registered in the name of women,” he said.