Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has said that the development witnessed in Thar cannot be seen anywhere else in Pakistan, suggesting that Islamabad should also be run on the model of Thar.
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“If Islamabad has failed, hand it over to the people of Thar,” Bilawal said while addressing the inauguration ceremony of Thar Coal Phase III.
Bilawal said some people could not accept the development taking place in Thar and argued that Islamabad should also follow the region’s development model.
He said Thar coal was saving around $1.6 billion in foreign exchange, while calling for the rapid completion of projects using Thar’s coal.
“There is a fertiliser crisis in the world; complete this project quickly using Thar’s coal,” he said.
The PPP chairman also questioned the argument that new provinces should be created if the existing system had failed.
“If Islamabad has failed, hand it over to the people of Thar. We will make the children of Islamabad top their examinations and improve the hospitals,” he said.
Bilawal said experts in Islamabad had previously described Thar coal as useless and argued that investment in the resource would be a waste.
He said electricity generation from Thar Block II, which initially stood at around 600 megawatts, had now increased to approximately 2,000 megawatts.
Bilawal said Thar had developed in several sectors and that the progress achieved in the region had surprised people across the country.
He also highlighted the educational achievements of children from Thar, saying they were topping examinations and deserved recognition.
Bilawal criticised what he described as the “politics of hatred” in Karachi, saying some political groups were not acknowledging the achievements of Thar’s children.
“Thar’s children are topping examinations, but instead of praising them, you engage in politics of hatred,” he said.
He also referred to his political opponents as “political orphans” and accused them of pursuing what he called the “politics of Zionists” in Karachi.
“Attempts to bring Zionist politics to Sindh will never succeed,” he said.
These remarks were part of Bilawal’s political address and reflected his criticism of rival political forces in Sindh.
Bilawal said Tharparkar represented what could be achieved through Pakistan’s constitutional and political system.
He described Thar as an example of the country’s system, Constitution and the 18th Amendment, while arguing that its development demonstrated the potential of empowering local and provincial institutions.
He reiterated that if Islamabad needed improvement, the people of Thar should be given the opportunity to demonstrate what they had achieved in their own region.
