[1]Bilawal Bhutto Zardari hailed the anti-polio workers across Pakistan on world polio day. Image by reporter #7587667 Copyright Demotix. (15/10/2013)
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari [2], chairman of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) [3], celebrated Diwali [4]with members from the Hindu community at his family house in Naundero, Larkana on 23 October 2014.
Bilawal, son of the first female Prime Minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto [5] and grandson of the founder of PPP [3] Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto [6] follows their ideology [7] of religious tolerance and inter-faith friendship. He wished the community through Twitter:
Diwali Mubarik to all my Hindu brothers and sisters.Esp Hindu Pakistanis. #MarsoonMarsoonJinnahKaPakistanNaDaisoon [8] http://t.co/xnrZcj6pbB [9] — BilawalBhuttoZardari (@BBhuttoZardari) October 23, 2014 [10]
Talking about minorities, Bilawal said:
We will not tolerate discriminatory treatment of the minorities.
His speech [11] took a political turn when he criticized the government by saying they were irresponsible regarding the rights of minorities. Referring to the assault on a Christian community at Joseph Colony [12] and a bombing at a church in Peshawar [13], Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said:
In Punjab, an attack takes place on a church in Joseph Colony, and no one speaks up! A blast occurs in a church in Peshawar and still silence!
He also performed the Diwali prayers at a temple that was burnt earlier this year [14] and rebuilt by his party.
This act got a lot of media attention and was appreciated on social media. While writing for BBC, Shahzeb Jillani said:
There was little substance in his speech, though he made some bold points about the need to fight militancy and protect religious minorities.
Fayaz, an electrical engineering student, tweeted:
happy #Diwali [15] to all my hindu brothers and sisters This is how we love nd celebrate with ppl of other religions #BBZ [16] — Fayaz #Teambilawal (@ChacharFayaz) October 22, 2014 [17]
Majid Agha, a researcher and analyst, tweeted:
#BBZ [16] visited “Temple” in Larkana, which was set on fire by extremists earlier this year. PPP reconstructed the temple pic.twitter.com/hjveAOltop [18] — Majid Agha (@Majid_Agha) October 23, 2014 [19]
Journalist Ali Kamran Chishti tweeted:
Heartwarming to see #Karachites [20] Muslims helping Hindu brothers & sisters celebrate #Diwali [15]. This is real #Karachi [21] – helping & tolerating! — Ali Kamran Chishti (@akchishti) October 24, 20 [22]14
The government of Sindh celebrated such events earlier as well, but this got a lot importance, as PPP [23] aimed a political comeback through this. This act followed a large and well-attended rally in Karachi [24], which officially introduced Bilawal Bhutto Zardari [25] as their leader.