Staff Reporter
Multan
The power show of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) was held on Monday at Multan’s Ghanta Ghar Chowk.
Earlier, the day saw a conflict between the city administration and opposition workers over holding a public event at a time when Coronavirus is rising.
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-(F) Chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz and PPP’s Aseefa Bhutto-Zardari, along with other PDM leaders and their respective supporters attended the public meeting.
Aseefa, who attended the rally on her brother and PPP chief Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari’s behalf, said that the public has given its verdict and the “selected will have to go now”.
“I have come among you today at a time when my brother, your brother, Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari is suffering from Coronavirus. I hope that just like you supported the mother of democracy and the daughter of the east, you will support Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on PDM’s platform. And I promise that I will support Chairman Bilawal and you at every step.”
She said that if the government arrested their brothers, PPP’s women will step out to struggle and save the country.“If they think we will be scared of arrests, they are deluded. If they arrest our brothers, every female worker of PPP will step outside to save our brothers and the country,” Aseefa told a charged crowd.
PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz, in her address, said she was “convinced of the bravery of Multan’s people” as she had been told that the administration had refused to give permission for a rally, yet people had gathered to hold one.
She accused the government of “throwing occupied Kashmir in [Indian PM] Modi’s lap” and said that a campaign was being run for Pakistan to accept Israel as a state.
“Public wants to know if the selectors and selected are on the same page on the matter of Israel,” she said. Maryam also congratulated PPP on its Youm-i-Tasees (founding day) and said that Aseefa Bhutto-Zardari — who is attending the gathering on her brother Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari’s behalf — and herself had come out of their homes to fight for the rights of Pakistanis. The PML-N leader said that though her grandmother had passed away recently, she had decided to attend the public meeting because the “pain of the people is greater than mine”.
She accused the PTI government of not informing her of her grandmother’s passing. Maryam was in Peshawar to attend a PDM rally when her grandmother passed away. “They knew that I didn’t know about my grandmother’s death. My family kept calling me but couldn’t reach me because phone signals were suspended,” she said in today’s public meeting. Maryam also bashed the government for telling the opposition to postpone public meetings due to rising cases of Covid-19, saying, “Once Covid-18 goes home, Covid-19 will leave as well”.
“This Covid-19 is very intelligent. It doesn’t spread in Jamaat-i-Islami’s gatherings, it doesn’t spread in government officials’ public meetings. It doesn’t enter gatherings of 300 people. It only spreads in opposition rallies.”
Maryam said that PTI’s promise to make a South Punjab province was a “lie”. The PML-N leader said that she “feared for the country” because an “inexperienced player” was running it.