Mian Manzoor Ahmed Wattoo, President Punjab PPP, has described the statement of former DG(ISPR) as inappropriate, unwise and ill-timed without going into the veracity of the contents. Mr. Athar Abbas, former DG (ISPR) reportedly claimed that the former Army Chief was indecisive in lunching the military operation against terrorists in FATA due to the fear of backlash of terrorists.
He added that he should have not given such statement about the former army chief who was his boss.
He added that his statement had neither boosted the morale of the people of the country nor helped the ongoing military operation in any way against terrorists who had challenged the writ of the state.
Mian Manzoor Ahmed Wattoo recalled that Chairman Bilawal Bhutto in his speech at Larkana raised his powerful voice against terrorists when he said that they were neither Muslim, nor followers of Islam or Pakistani because they did not recognize the writ of the state, the constitution and our way of life,
He further said that now government, civil society and the political leadership were supporting the military operation which indeed was the vindication of the Chairman’s position taken in this regard right from the beginning.
Mian Manzoor Ahmed Wattoo said as per the instructions of Chairman Bilawal Bhutto to help the IDPs , the Punjab PPP had set up committees at the district level to collect donations and the Divisional Co-coordinators had been assigned the task of supervising the collection of donations in the respective five Divisions. These Divisions are, Lahore Rural Division, Lahore City Division, Faisalabad Division, Gujranwala Division and Shiwal Division.
He referred to hi recent meeting with Syed Khurshid Shah, Leader of Opposition who is the Chairman of the IDP’s Committee while he was the one of the members of the Committee.
He further said that Mian Muhammd Ayub, Deputy Secretary PPP Punjab, had been appointed as the Co-coordinator who will be overall responsible for the collection and dispatch of the donations so collectedA to the IDPs camps.
He also appealed to all and sundry in general and the PPP workers and leaders in particular to adopt a family of IDPs to meet its expenses during the month of Ramzan and beyond adding that the PPP Secretariat would ensure that donation in kind and cash reached to the adopted families.
Mian Manzoor Ahmed Wattoo recalled that the magnitude of the IDPs as compare to the Swat operation was much easier to handle because at that time the number of IDPs was three million whereas the IDPs from FATA were around half a million people.
Three million IDPs went back to their homes with honour and dignity within three months. He expressed the confidence that the IDPs from FATA would be looked after well because the whole nation was totally committed and supporting them with moral and material support.
