PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Friday promised to ensure the right of ownership and the protections of the 18th Constitutional Amendment for the people of Gilgit-Baltistan.
His remarks came during a public rally in Gilgit, part of his region-wide campaign ahead of the June 7 elections.
Addressing the rally, Bilawal said it was part of the PPP’s election manifesto to grant all constitutional rights to the region, including the right to own land and financial protections under the 18th Constitutional Amendment.
He urged the people of GB to give the PPP a “heavy mandate”, so the party could continue its struggle to secure the region’s ownership rights, calling on them to spread his message.
Bilawal said legislation on the matter had been tabled in the Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly and had been passed by the house.
“As per the legislation, 28,000 square miles of land owned by the government has been converted into common land. We have fulfilled our promise to this stage,” the PPP chairman said.
Bilawal added that the legislation should now be implemented.
“I request the people of Gilgit-Baltistan that this time I need a heavy majority,” he said, warning that if any party other than the PPP came into power, it would “tear this legislation apart”.
“Whether you belong to the PPP or not, I request all the people of the region to vote for the PPP, because only we can safeguard ownership rights.”
The former foreign minister said that the region was the Koh-i-Noor of Pakistan’s destiny, adding that if the PPP won the upcoming elections, it would unlock the economic potential of GB.
“The politicians of the 1990s do not understand the role technology can play,” he said.
Bilawal said that digital infrastructure was more “crucial” than transport or physical infrastructure. “Through digital connectivity, a youngster living in Gilgit-Baltistan can earn money from home,” he said.
“We will make efforts to ask China for optical fibre connectivity; if not, we will request the United States to provide satellite-based Starlink internet services so we can move forward,” the PPP chairman said.
During his address, he also made various promises to initiate public-private partnership-based projects, including a health network and a housing scheme for people affected by floods in the region.
He said the entire Muslim world was going through difficult times.
“You can see what’s happening in Palestine, Lebanon, Arab countries, and specifically Iran,” he said, asking who could represent the country in such times.
“During these times, if we want to raise the voice of Gilgit-Baltistan in Islamabad and across the world, there is no better option than President Asif Ali Zardari,” he said.
Bilawal has spent the last few days addressing campaign rallies in the region, including a rally in Shigar on Monday where he stated that any new constitutional amendment should provide protection to the rights of GB.
He also addressed a public gathering in Skardu on Tuesday where he called for greater rights for the region. There, the Bhutto scion asserted that the PPP was the “only party that represents the underprivileged and the poor”, and emphasised that the country could only develop once the working class and the youth were economically empowered.
Additionally, speaking in Diamer on Wednesday, he vowed to address the resettlement concerns of those affected by the construction of the Diamer-Bhasha Dam on an “immediate basis” if his party was elected. He added that had President Asif Ali Zardari’s government not been removed in 2013, the dam would have been built by now.
General elections in GB are scheduled for Sunday, after a four-month delay attributed to harsh winter weather.