PPP leader warns of ongoing conspiracy to malign Sindh; presents Thar as a counter-story
Pakistan People’s Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari addresses a press conference in Karachi, Friday, November 7, 2025.
HYDERABAD:
Striking a chord with political elements who have often looked askance at Islamabad’s intentions vis-à-vis the provinces, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has warned that some powers are seeking to deprive Sindh of its rights, authority and resources.
Addressing the inauguration ceremony of the first phase of the Tharparkar Institute of Engineering, Science and Technology in Tharparkar district on Wednesday, Bilawal warned that a “special campaign” was being carried out to tarnish the image of the province and its government.
“Some powers want to deprive your province of its rights, its authority and its resources under the pretext that the Sindh government has done nothing, that this small province has done nothing,” said the PPP president.
“[They say] that is why all authority and resources must be returned to Islamabad,” he added, without specifically referring to any individual, political party or institution. “All this is done for a particular purpose. [and] for a particular plot,” he stressed.
Bilawal, however, pointed out that the development initiatives undertaken in Tharparkar, as well as other parts of Sindh, effectively negate this false narrative of poor performance of the provincial government.
He asked the people of Tharparkar to witness the state of development of their area. “Look at Tharparkar before 2008 and look at it today in 2026. There are still problems, but the transformation is before your eyes,” he said.
“I would like to say to those who think that for Sindh or its people, the path of development is only possible through Islamabad, that we have proven this notion wrong through initiatives in the areas of education, health and public-private sectors. Thar has also proven it wrong.”
He recalled that the tendency to deny provincial autonomy and control over their natural resources had prevented his mother, former Prime Minister the late Benazir Bhutto, from launching the Thar coal project in 1993.
He claimed that the same plots had thwarted his efforts to exploit Thar coal not only for the development of this desert region but also for the entire country. He equated the amount of Thar’s coal reserves to Saudi Arabia’s oil reserves.
“It is regrettable for this country and its people that the path of development and economic progress, which could have started in 1993, did not begin until after 2008,” the PPP chairman told the audience.
He added that Thar coal mining has not only helped the local economy and residents but also benefited the industrial areas of Faisalabad through coal-fired electricity. He also highlighted the social impact of the Thar coal projects, linking them to improved health and education in the region.
The PPP president recalled that Tharparkar students had demanded in 2019 the establishment of a university in their district. The Sindh government had set up a campus of NED University in a government building in the same year.
He said that in the first phase, the Tharparkar Institute of Engineering, Science and Technology was inaugurated, while the second phase, which will transform the institute into a university, will be completed before the end of the tenure of the current Sindh government in 2029.
Bilawal credited the Sindh government with doubling the number of universities in the province in the last 18 years. He also expressed satisfaction that a higher number of female students are progressing to higher education in universities.
