Bilawal rejects AJK election results

MUZAFFARABAD: Chairman Pakistan Peoples Party Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, while addressing party workers in Muzaffarabad, said that PPP candidate Mubashir Munir Awan’s lunch invitation had transformed into a public rally. Chairman Bilawal said the passion and enthusiasm of the crowd reflected their immense love for the PPP. Congratulating Mubashir Munir Awan on his upcoming victory, he said “the triumph of the arrow symbol and of Kashmir on August 2 was evident. The PPP’s three-generation history and track record are before the people. For three generations, the party has championed Kashmir’s cause internationally while also striving for the democratic rights of the Kashmiri people at home. ” Chairman Bilawal said the PPP is competing against a political party that had been the product of rigging for generations. He said they had never won an election through the genuine mandate of the people. “Whenever they had occupied the offices of Prime Minister or Chief Minister, it was neither because of the people’s trust nor because of their performance, but because of rigging. The PPP, on the other hand, has always confronted electoral manipulation and fought to reclaim its rightful mandate. ” He said the opponents believe they can repeat the same tactics in Kashmir, but should remember that the people of Kashmir are courageous and refuse to bow before anyone. They will not allow anyone to steal their vote. Chairman Bilawal said that when their party’s leader became Chief Minister of Punjab for the first time, it was through rigging and the IJI episode. When he first became Prime Minister, it was due to the Asghar Khan case and electoral manipulation. When they returned to power again, it was because of the RO election. “Today, if someone occupies the office of Chief Minister or Prime Minister, every child knows it is not because of performance or the people’s mandate, but because of Form 47. ” He questioned how they could deny committing rigging when they had relied on it for generations. He said they believed they could get away with manipulated results in Mirpur and intimidate the voters of Muzaffarabad. Rather than seeking votes on the basis of performance, they had resorted to stealing the people’s mandate because they had been rejected everywhere. However, he declared that this was Muzaffarabad, not Srinagar, and that its people would defeat every attempt at rigging. Chairman Bilawal said that no one could deny that a PPP worker had been martyred in Javed Badhanvi’s constituency in an attempt to convert defeat into victory. Referring to Chaudhary Yasin, he said that he had contested numerous elections and had stood on two seats in the previous elections on his instructions. At the time, Chaudhary Yasin had said that it would be difficult because the PML-N governed AJK while PTI was in power at the Centre. In the selected election held during General Faiz’s tenure, Chaudhary Yasin won both seats despite his sons being arrested and despite facing bullets. He noted that the city constituency had not been won since the era of Quaid-e-Awam Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. He questioned how the same Chaudhary Yasin, contesting both seats amid the boycott, could win the city seat by a substantial margin but lose his native constituency after 30 polling stations were attacked. Chairman Bilawal said that video evidence of the incidents has been shared on social media. He said that Chaudhary Yasin’s victory has been forcibly converted into defeat, something the PPP cannot accept. The party possessed the results from those 30 polling stations, he said, and while turnout across other constituencies ranged between 40 and 50 per cent, those polling stations had reportedly recorded a turnout of 90 per cent. He said the PPP would not accept such a result when 30 polling stations had been taken over. Chairman Bilawal demanded that the Election Commission conduct a fair and transparent investigation, order re-polling, and deliver justice to the people of the Mirpur Division and Kotli. He said the cases of Chaudhary Akhlaq and Pervaiz Ashraf were before everyone too. Addressing party workers, he declared that the PPP would reclaim every stolen vote. While the party can accept defeat, he said, it will never accept a stolen mandate or a result secured through rigging. Chairman Bilawal said that although the elections are important, the lives of the people are even more important. He said that people are losing their lives in Kashmir and that a serious crisis has emerged. The PPP’s solution, he said, is the establishment of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission. He stated that he had conveyed this proposal to all stakeholders, adding that if both the protestors and the State accepted it, the PPP would ask the protestors to suspend their activities until the Commission completed its report, while also asking the State to halt its actions during that period. He emphasised that the proposal was neither on behalf of the protestors nor the government, but for the ordinary Kashmiri who wished only to live peacefully and earn a livelihood. He urged that the proposal be accepted and, if rejected, that the reasons for doing so be made public. Chairman Bilawal said that on August 2, the people should stamp the arrow symbol and send a message to Poonch, Rawalakot and Islamabad that Muzaffarabad demands a Truth and Reconciliation Commission so that peace and normalcy can return to Kashmir. He said the PPP wants an end to the internet shutdown and to the hardships faced by the people of Kashmir. The party’s manifesto, he said, centres on securing for the people of Kashmir the right to governance, the right to ownership and the right to employment. He said that legislation must be introduced to ensure that the voice of the Kashmiri people reaches Islamabad through the CCI, NFC and other key decision-making forums, enabling them to shape their own future without having to protest on the streets. The PPP wants the people of Kashmir to own their rivers and mountains, he said, and if anyone is to benefit economically from these resources, the people of Kashmir should be the first to do so. This, he said, is the right to ownership that the PPP stands for. Speaking about the right to employment, Chairman Bilawal said the PPP recognises the ongoing economic crisis, while the PML-N, the “Khooni League”, believes in taking away jobs instead of creating them. He said the PML-N’s economic philosophy is making the rich richer, and the poor poorer. In contrast, he said, the PPP believes in uplifting the underprivileged and empowering farmers and workers to achieve prosperity. Copyright Business Recorder, 2026

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