Chairman Pakistan Peoples Party, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari in his address at the National Assembly said that this nation was not born of fear, it was born of struggle.
In recent days, the Government of India has unleashed a torrent of accusations following a heinous act in Occupied Kashmir, Chairman Bilawal stated. Tourists were killed, blood was spilled, it was a tragedy by any measure. Yet, before the bodies had turned cold, New Delhi turned its wrath towards Islamabad, pointing fingers, tightening borders and threatening consequences. Let me make this solemn declaration before the people of Pakistan and the world, Pakistan had no hand in that crime, Chairman Bilawal said. We do not export terror, we are the victims of terrorism. Terrorism is just not an act on bodies, it is an attack on truth, peace and civilisation itself. What is terrorism? Is it merely the act of a deranged gunman or a bomb in a marketplace? It is the silence of the world when injustice reigns, it is the boot on the neck of the oppressed, it is the bulldozer that razes a home in the dark and it is the curfew that lasts not hours but decades.
Chairman PPP said that India claims to fight terrorism. Let us ask, how can you fight terrorism while practicing state terrorism in Kashmir? You cannot condemn the bullet while you wield the baton. You cannot speak of law when you break it every day in the valley. You cannot claim moral superiority when your hands are soiled with the tears of mothers, screams of children and the silence of dead men. Pakistan has suffered from terrorism, foreign-sponsored, ideologically-driven and brutally indiscriminate. We have buried our soldiers and our schoolchildren. We have stood alone while the world averted its gaze. We have fought a menace not only with arms but with ideas, education, economic reforms and unity. I say this to India and the world, terrorism cannot be defeated by tanks alone, it must be defeated by justice. Terrorism cannot just be uprooted by bullets, it must be disarmed by hope, Chairman Bilawal said. “Terrorism cannot be eliminated by demonising nations, it must be defeated by addressing the grievances that give it birth”, Chairman PPP stated. Do you wish to end the violence in Kashmir? Then let the people speak. Let there be a plebiscite, not persecution. Let there be ballots, not bulldozers. Let there be autonomy, not annexation. That is the only path to peace. No lie, no bullet, no bang will bury the truth. Kashmir is not India’s territory. It is a promise broken, a wound festering and a people waiting.
Chairman PPP said that India expects the 200 million people of Pakistan to account for the actions of terrorists they are still unable to name, while India has yet to account for Kulbhushan Jadhav, whose name and rank within India’s armed forces is on the record. India’s accusations that Pakistan is involved in terrorism is stale, based on history and not ground realities, based on fiction, not on fact. India has become the boy that cries wolf in South Asia, Chairman Bilawal said.
Pakistan has proven India’s involvement in terror, not only through proxies but through their armed forces, not just on our soil. India’s hands are stained from blood from Sri Lanka to Canada and beyond. India must abandon terrorism as a tool of its foreign policy. In order to free this region from terror, India and Pakistan must work together, or else we are dooming future generations to suffer this menace. The Prime Minister’s challenge to India for an impartial investigation is a start. Why would a true victim of terrorism shy away from accountability? Unless, they are worried that the world will see that the real blame for the bloodshed in Kashmir lies in Delhi and not in Islamabad.
India’s suspension of the Indus Water Treaty is not a punishment for Pakistan, but a crime against humanity, Chairman Bilawal said. It is the politicisation of water and criminalisation of nature. What madness is this, that you would threaten the food and livelihood of millions for a grievance that lies within your own borders. Let us not forget what flows through these waters. The Indus is not just a river, it is a cradle of our civilisation. Long before Delhi rose, before empires were carved and borders drawn, there stood Mohenjo Daro and Harappa. The Indus Valley Civilisation shared by both our people, was one of the first lights of human progress. It birthed systems of urban planning, irrigation, agriculture, trade and communication. It did not divide, it connected and it did not conquer, it cultivated. That river watered both our ancestors. Its flow runs not only through our lands but through our blood. Now, India threatens to damn it with anger and a thirst for vengeance. However, the Indus is not theirs to command, it belongs to nature and peace. It belongs to all of humanity that draws life from it. Pakistan will defend that river, not only for its own sake but for the memory of a civilisation that predates this bitterness. To weaponise the Indus is to betray our shared past. To uphold the Treaty is to honour that ancient wisdom, which taught us to share what sustains us. Let it be known, you can divert rivers but you cannot drown our will. Every drop that flows from the Indus has written in it the courage of Pakistani farmers, the sweat of our workers and the blessing of Allah Almighty.
Let no one mistake our restraint for weakness, Chairman PPP said. The Pakistan Armed Forces are vigilant, resolute and prepared. Our skies are guarded, our borders are sealed by valour. Our nation stands united from Karachi to Khyber and from Lahore to Larkana. The sword we wield is only drawn when peace is threatened, but when drawn, it does not miss.
To the people of Pakistan, Chairman Bilawal said that this is not a time to despair. It is a time for resolve, we have faced darkness before and we have emerged into the dawn. Our enemies hope to fracture us, but we must stand as one, civilian and soldier, worker and scholar, Muslim and non-Muslim, Sindhi, Punjabi, Baloch, Pashtun, we are Pakistan. We are a single heartbeat and a single cause. History watches us now, let us not falter, let us remind the world that Pakistan is not a footnote in South Asia. We are not the accused, we are the aggrieved. Yet, we do not seek revenge, we seek recognition of Kashmir’s right to self-determination, recognition of our sovereignty and recognition that peace must be earned through unity and not dictated by fear. If India wishes to walk the path of peace, let them come with open hands and not clenched fists. Let them bring facts, not fabrications. Let us sit as neighbours and speak the truth. If they do not, if they continue to howl in anger and march in madness, then let them remember the people of Pakistan are not made to kneel. The people of Pakistan have the resolve to fight, not because we love conflict but because we love freedom. It is better we die fighting than live under oppression. However, this is not the destiny we seek for the heirs of the Indus Valley Civilisation, no matter which side of this man-made border we reside. In all the excavation at Mohenjo Daro, not one weapon has been found. How is it that we have departed so far from our roots that the very same Indus Valley is now the most armed region on earth?
The truth is, war is not natural to us. It is imposed on us generation after generation not in the interest of our people but in the interest of colonising powers, Chairman Bilawal said. It is up to both countries to free themselves from the confines of conflict and pursue the path to peace and prosperity. Let India decide, will it be dialogue or destruction, cooperation or confrontation. History shall record not only their choice but also ours. Let that history show that when Pakistan stood at the crossroads of provocation and principle, we chose principle. In choosing it, we chose honour, peace and victory. Pakistan Zindabad, Chairman Bilawal resolved.