SHIGAR – Web Desk: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has declared that decisions regarding Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir should be made by the people themselves, not by “babus sitting in Islamabad.”
Addressing an election rally in constituency GBA-12 Shigar, Bilawal said, “I want the decision of Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir to be made by you, not by a babu sitting in Islamabad.” He demanded that elections in GB and Azad Kashmir should be held simultaneously with general elections in Pakistan, asserting that true sovereignty would only be ensured when elections across the country happen together.
Bilawal criticized other political parties for wanting to run everything — including Gwadar and Karachi — from Islamabad, arguing that people have suffered due to decisions made in the federal capital. He demanded that if the federation is bankrupt, the ministries of Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir should be closed first.
The PPP chairman warned that some political parties are conspiring to end the Benazir Income Support Program (BISP) by devolving it to provinces, a move he said would effectively terminate the program. “BISP’s protection can only be done by the PPP. Other parties want to end it one way or another. Their new idea is to devolve this program to provinces, but worldwide, federal governments handle such responsibilities,” Bilawal said, vowing to foil all such conspiracies.
