Bilawal’s Gilgit-Baltsitan Campaign

By R. Tariq

Last week Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari travelled to Gilgit Baltistan for electoral campaign. He travelled to Baltistan in the cold month of October and plans to stay with the people until after the elections are over in mid-November.

Never previously in my life time has a political leader made this type of effort for the people of this remote area before. Anyone would be joyed to come to GB on a warm day of spring or summer, but it takes real courage to travel to Gilgit-Baltistan while the temperature is constantly dropping by the day.

While most people are applauding Bilawal’s presence in the region, many brothers and sisters from GB are complaining about the performance of PPP in Sind, specially Karachi. We need to understand that we must prioritize our own issues and needs first. Karachi rarely has massive rainfalls of the kind that we saw this year. So, it is not a surprise that the drainage system of the city is not sophisticated enough to prevent flooding. While the situation needs to improve, kindly also note that Peshawar and Lahore, or even Islamabad, are not any models of urban development.

Besides I have never seen anyone from Karachi or Baluchistan raising voice for the rights of our people. In fact every time an issue related to the people of GB is raised on any platform, people from other provinces start to complain about their own issues and problem. Only successfully diluting the voices raised for the rights of GB.

The visit of the chairman, thus,  is an opportunity for the people of GB to bring our problems into the light and plan for the future.

One last thing, some of us may decide not to vote for PPP because of ideological differences or for any other reasons. We should not show any disrespect or ill-will to a leader or people who put their trust in us.

Let us hope for a better future and that the winning party keeps it’s promises to the people of GB after forming the government.