Dera Ghazi Khan / Karachi:
A bit of words between the leaders of the two partners of the Federal Coalition on how to help tens of thousands of people affected by the floods in Punjab has exposed the underlying tensions which are deposited under the veneer of the political unit.
Thursday scored the second consecutive day of the public fight between the PPP and the PML-N on the help of rescue against the floods of the Punjab government. The PPP maintains that the Benazir income support program (BISP) is the most effective and fastest mechanism to help the victims of the floods, while the PML-N government in Punjab insists to channel aid through its own “emergency card” initiative.
PPP president Bilawal Bhutto Zardari criticized Federal and Punjab governments on Thursday, led by the PML -N – for not having appealed to international aid. Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz replied that the Punjab “would not beg” for help.
Speaking during the inauguration of an electric bus project in Dera Ghazi Khan, Maryam accused the PPP of politicizing the punjab flood crisis. She categorically rejected calls from the party to deploy the bisp in the province, rejecting it as inadequate to tackle the disaster scale.
“The BISP offers only 10,000 rupees in the aid, while we aim to provide assistance that can go up to 1 million rupees,” she said, wondering how such a small amount could compensate for the losses of hundreds of thousands of rupees. She reiterated that the own Punjab resources would be used exclusively for her people.
“I don’t need anyone’s help. Money belonging to the inhabitants of Punjab will only be spent for them,” she said. In an acute bilawal reprimand, she added: “Keep your advice for you – we will manage the Punjab.”
Maryam said she did not want to comment on the situation in the Sindh, but directed remarks on the leader of the ruling party there. “Bilawal is like a younger brother, but I would advise him to guide the spokespersons of his own party first. Concentrate on your own province and keep your suggestions for you-we will take care of the Punjab,” she added.
She defended her refusal to appeal to world aid. “People ask me why I can’t stand the world to get help. I am the daughter of Nawaz Sharif – I’m not going to put myself at hand before anyone for help. How can a self -respecting person talk about helping help?”
Maryam also accused her rivals of exploiting southern Punjab as a slogan without providing results. “Those who continue to invoke southern Punjab have also had the chance to govern here, but it was Nawaz Sharif and Shehbaz Sharif who have done real development work,” she said.
“In the past, southern punjab is nothing more than slogans. We are doing practical work here. In schools in southern Punjab, children even receive milk,” she added. She warned that the increase in the question of southern Punjab several times was to draw a line of demarcation.
His remarks followed the strong defense of the BISP by Bilawal, which he described as the only credible and internationally recognized mechanism in Pakistan for a distribution of transparent and immediate aid. He urged the PML-N government to reconsider its decision.
The President of the PPP argued that governments around the world played a “front line role” in rescue and the rehabilitation of floods. He criticized the reluctance of the federal government to use the BISP and questioned his approach.
“Recent floods have devastated Gilgit-Baltistan, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and the Sindh river belt, but the Punjab was the hardest hit, in particular the southern Punjab, where destruction is historic,” he said.
“Why make the flood relief is a question of ego? The bisp was used during the previous floods and during the COVVI-19. If it is refused today, what fault is it from the south of the Punjab? When people are homeless and live in the street, why cannot be helped?”
Bilawal criticized those who oppose the bisp, saying that they did not understand its effectiveness. He recalled that the PML-N had praised the program in the past. “If they have now set up, they should explain why.”
By linking his position to broader help efforts, Bilawal welcomed the announcement by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif with an agricultural and climatic emergency, which, according to him, was made in response to his call.
He described the renunciation of the federal government of electricity bills for households struck by floods a positive step but put pressure for more action. He urged the government to ask for international aid, noting that Pakistan had turned to global partners in previous crises.
Bilawal also called on the Center to renegotiate terms with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), saying that current conditions have refused farmers for fair support prices. He warned that without immediate action, the country has faced serious risk for food security.
The president of the PPP announced that the Sindh provincial government would provide its own rescue set for farmers through a “Hari card”. If the federal government joined, he said, the package could be extended to cover the agricultural sector more.
He stressed that the suffering of Punjab justified urgent and coordinated action, not political disputes. He argued that the BISP remained the most efficient and transparent method available to provide aid directly to citizens.
