Daily Times

KARACHI: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Co-Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Saturday said that the people of Karachi would not accept Altaf-like Imran Khan as their leader.

“PTI and MQM are one and the same. The people of Karachi will never accept a leader like Imran Khan, who is similar to MQM founder Altaf Hussain,” Bilawal said while speaking to a PPP powershow in Karachi.

The PPP co-chief added that the party had fulfilled all legal obligations to conduct a rally at Hakeem Saeed ground, but PTI workers provoked clashes after they shifted their camp to PPP’s venue.

“The PTI workers threw stones at our workers and set our trucks on fire. In 2007, Musharraf and his men martyred our workers, and now, it was the PTI’s puppets who turned to violence,” he added.

Referring to the May 12, 2007 riots that left 34 people dead in Karachi, Bilawal said that the PPP faithful sacrificed their lives for the party’s struggle to ensure an independent judiciary. “Our workers went out in support of chief justice Chaudhry Iftikhar, but were attacked by terrorists.”

Bilawal continued that the quota system in Pakistan, especially in Sindh, was not introduced by Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, but was introduced by ex-PM Liaquat Ali Khan, while its last notification was issued before ZA Bhutto’s tenure.

He also slammed Mayor Karachi Waseem Akhtar for failing to provide water to the citizens. “If you do not have enough water, it is because of MQM because they do not want Karachi to develop.”