A Collective Change Speech at Lahore, November 3, 1970

The Pakistan People’s Party is a party of the masses and it has promised that we shall end the system of exploitation in Pakistan and eradicate poverty, hunger and misery from the country. All our efforts have been directed towards that end before the elections and will continue in the same direction even after the elections. I can assure you that our manifesto is not a mere election stunt. It is a solemn pledge that whatever the sacrifices, we shall adhere to our promises even at the cost of our lives. It is a party of the masses, the peasants, the workers, the students and the intellectuals. The anti-people parties are joining hands to fight against us. They want that the system of capitalist exploitation should be perpetuated.

My opponents say that if I am elected from this constituency I shall not be able to look after your individual problems. I can assure you that my party will look after everything. I shall serve the people of Pakistan and bring about a collective change so that individual problems do not arise. We have to work for collective objectives. This is the only party which can serve Pakistan by breaking the shackles of exploitation. I only want you to do justice to everyone. I only want you to consider our contributions to the nation in the past. Who gave an independent foreign policy to Pakistan? Who faced India bravely? Who faced dictatorship? You have only to compare our services with their misdeeds and do justice. There is no question of your supporting them in that case. You should support the Pakistan People’s Party which is determined to serve you and will never betray you.

The recent incident at Karachi Airport in which the Polish Deputy Foreign Minister was killed will not be repeated if a people’s rule is established in Pakistan. I haven’t commented on this incident so far because the matter is being investigated but I can’t help expressing my doubts that this incident is the result of a conspiracy by the enemies of Pakistan. It is a very sad incident and could not have taken place without an international conspiracy. It appears to be an attempt to jeopardize our good relations with Russia and Eastern European countries. This may also result in the stoppage of arms supplies to Pakistan. It is a great conspiracy against the integrity of Pakistan and we have to face these conspiracies. This can be done only with your help and support. Even the most complicated problems can be solved if the people support us. Take for example the case of foreign debts. We have borrowed so much that it is hardly possible for us to pay them back. If there is a people’s rule and we have the support of the people we can tell the other countries that we are poor and cannot afford to pay in the stipulated manner we can renegotiate. This can be done only if the people who know how to handle political affair? come to power. If you support such people a solution to all these problems can be found.