Staff Reporter
Islamabad
PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Monday said that borders are the responsibility of the federal government and, therefore, it should have ensured proper management of Pakistanis arriving from Iran through Taftan
“You couldn’t test them, you couldn’t quarantine them. I’m not saying it’s their fault. I’m saying it’s your fault,” he told the treasury benches in NA.
“Why wasn’t the Raiwind Ijtima stopped? Our Tableeghi brothers should’ve been informed [about the virus threat].”
Bilawal lambasted the government, noting right at the start of his speech that Imran Khan was not present during the NA session despite most leaders of the Opposition being there.
“I am saddened to say that our Prime Minister, who is also the country’s health minister, is not present in the NA session. He doesn’t think it’s part of his job to brief this house and the country’s people on the coronavirus [situation].
“This isn’t a battle of political statements, this is a part of the prime minister’s job as the leader of the house,” he added, noting that the current government expected the society’s labourers and underprivileged group “to put their lives in danger to earn their livelihoods and work in the industries to run our economy”.
“As a leader, one should do what one expects from others,” the PPP leader stated, adding that it would have been better if the premier had attended the NA session for he not only represented Pakistan but also the health ministry, “whose Special Assistant [Dr Zafar Mirza] is present here but cannot speak”.
Bilawal said the participants were expecting a debate on national unity and the steps to spread awareness about the coronavirus pandemic. “Unfortunately, the foreign minister, who was assigned the task, chose to target Sindh and the 18th Amendment.”
He explained that when the virus reached Pakistan, he had offered to PM Imran and his government to set aside the political differences and work together to tackle the pandemic. “In response, my party, my chief minister [Murad Ali Shah], and my ministers received flak and verbal abuse from the highest level of government of Pakistan, which engaged in mudslinging at their efforts and hard work and in the character assassination of the people of my province.
“So much so that a leader of the ruling party went as far as to say that he contracted the coronavirus due to the illiteracy of the people of Sindh,” Bilawal shot back.
Bilawal claimed that the federal government is distributing funds to the poor set aside for the Benazir Income Support Programme under its Ehsaas programme.
