Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Wednesday invited Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) to join hands for transparent elections in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), urging the party to end its boycott of the electoral process and work together on a one-point agenda of electoral reforms.
Addressing a public gathering in Muzaffarabad, Bilawal criticized the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), saying the party may have carried out development work in Lahore but had done nothing for Azad Kashmir.
He said he did not want Kashmir to become like Punjab or Sindh and wanted it to remain Azad Kashmir. He added that after the elections, a constitutional convention would be convened with the participation of the government, opposition, refugee representatives, lawyers, and civil society.
Bilawal said he wanted peace and justice in Kashmir and maintained that decisions regarding the region should be made by its elected assembly. Stressing the principle of public sovereignty, he said every vote should produce its rightful mandate.
The PPP chairman also called for property rights and employment opportunities for Kashmiri residents. He said local people should be given jobs and business opportunities in every development project. Referring to digital connectivity, he said internet services had been restored in Muzaffarabad and Mirpur by his party and pledged to extend internet access to Poonch so that Kashmiris could remain connected with the world.
Criticizing the PML-N’s development claims, Bilawal said the party frequently referred to projects completed in Lahore but the people of Azad Kashmir would ask what it had done for Muzaffarabad. He said residents were aware of the CMH Flyover project and added that although the PML-N often cited Karachi’s University Road project, it had itself launched that scheme in 2023 and it had yet to be completed.
He further said the PML-N continued to praise Lahore despite failing to complete the CMH Flyover over several years, while the PPP had delivered a flyover in Muzaffarabad. Bilawal also claimed that universities in Kashmir had been established by the PPP, not by the PML-N.
Offers Alliance to PTI
Addressing the PTI directly, Bilawal urged the party to abandon the politics of boycott. He said that if PTI wanted to boycott elections, it should stay at home, but if it wished to bring change, it should contest elections instead.
He said he was extending a hand of cooperation to PTI workers, its serious leadership, and every political party that had suffered injustice. He invited them to work together to introduce electoral reforms and ensure free and transparent elections in Kashmir.
Bilawal said that if cooperation remained limited to a one-point agenda of electoral reforms and transparent elections, he was prepared to work with every political party.
Also Read: Internet Services Begin to Resume in Azad Kashmir
