KARACHI: Pakistan Peoples Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Tuesday said those saying the PPP is finished are mistaken, adding that the PPP "was not finished" and it "will not be finished" since "Bilawal Bhutto Zardari had taken over its reins."
"When Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto died, people said the PPP was over; when Benazir Bhutto died everyone thought the PPP would not rise again."
Talking to supporters and workers at the Bilawal House in a special gathering arranged on the national minorities day, Bilawal said the PPP opposes those who divide the nation along religion, calling them the country's enemies.
"Any resident, no matter whatever religion he follows, is a Pakistani before anything else," said the PPP chairman.
He said Quaid-e-Azam’s vision for Pakistan was a country where all could practice their religion freely, without fear. He said PPP founder Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was a staunch opponent of divisions based on religion, and worked to find ways to unite and strengthen the public.
"The PPP's ideology has remained the same to this day – it is the only political party that does not divide people on the basis of religion," said Bilawal.
Bilawal said his mother, Benazir Bhutto, had taken on elements spreading hate in the guise of religion, and eventually sacrificed her life in the battle.
"Despite being a woman, my mother challenged those using religion to create divide; the PPP is against such politics," said Bilawal.
After his speech, Bilawal Bhutto, along with his sister Bakhtawar and other senior PPP office bearers, cut a cake to celebrate the minorties' day.
Earlier, Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah and PPP vice president Sherry Rehman also addressed the gathering.