A genuine show of emotions was displayed by Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari during his visit to the Civil Hospital, Quetta, where he inquired after health of those who were injured in a terrorist attack on the police training centre last Monday. Over 60 people were killed and dozens injured last week when three heavily-armed militants wearing suicide vests stormed a police academy in Quetta. Bilawal, overwhelmed with emotions broke into tears while recalling the death of his mother PPP chairperson, Benazir Bhutto. Wiping his tears, he said: “My family and the people of Balochistan share the same pain. I am no ordinary politician. I am the son of BB. I am a victim of this terrorism.”

The history of the PPP is marked with victimisation, sacrifices and injustice as a number of members of the Bhutto family and workers and leaders of the PPP were imprisoned, assassinated or sent to the gallows in the past. Since his political career was launched in Karachi on October 18, 2014, Bilawal is proving himself a vibrant leader with diverse opinions on national issues. During his latest visit to Quetta, he touched upon a number of key issues. The tone and content of Bilawal’s comments was a vehement attack on the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leadership and Federal Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan. He lambasted the security czar allegedly for his failure in controlling militancy across the country in general and Balochistan in particular. He demanded that the interior minister step down for failing to curb terrorism. He accused him of hiding when a terrorist act takes place and appearing before the media only to settle his personal scores by holding news conferences against opposition members.

Bilawal further said that the PPP had always raised its voice on the issue of missing persons demanding their immediate recovery and providing relief to the affected families.

It is good to see that a young leader is talking about those issues that have plagued the country for many years. People want such leadership that could understand their pain and suffering. Militancy is a real threat to the national unity, and the whole country is the victim of this curse. More importantly, those living in restive areas like Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan need to be approached and consoled by political leaders, and given a real framework for action, and Bilawal has made a timely and positive gesture by approaching the victims of a deadly terrorist act.

Now it is to be seen whether Bilawal walks the talk or his words remain mere emotional rhetoric. He can wage a war against militancy, poverty, illness and other socials evil by setting up a credible political system in Sindh where the PPP has been in power consecutively for the last two terms. Another point is that he has raised the issue of recovery of missing persons, which is a phenomenon that has gained the status of a taboo due to alleged involvement of powerful institutions of establishment. PPP leadership raising the issue of the missing Baloch could bring the attention of concerned authorities to this ‘invisible’ phenomenon, and any action on this regard would go a long way to mitigate the sense of injustice the people of Balochistan live with on a constant basis.