LARKANA - PPP-P President Asif Ali Zardari Saturday stressed the need for establishment of Bulleh Shah university in Punjab to promote the culture of tolerance in the society.

“Sindh government has already taken a lead by setting up Bhittai University to promote the teachings of the Sufi saint,” he said while talking to Barrister Amir Hasan from Punjab who called on him at Bilawal House in Naudero.

The former president noted that the basic reason behind the growing intolerance in the society was that the people and the government had forgot the teachings of tolerance preached by the Sufi saints of the sub-continent in the past.

“Had the teachings of Baba Bulleh Shah been propagated in Punjab, the religious extremists and terrorists would not have hijacked the religion in this part of the country,” he maintained.

Commenting on the current tug of war between the PML-N government and the state institutions, Zardari said that his party believed in strong institutions and this was the reason it had always taken steps to strengthen the parliament, the judiciary and the army.

“Weak institutions weaken the country. This is what has happened in neighbouring Afghanistan,” he remarked, adding that it was also essential for the institutions to work within their respective domains.

The former president also castigated the ruling PML-N for destroying country’s economy. “All segments of society - the labourers, the peasants and the salaried class in particular - are having hard times under the present government. The business class is not happy either,” he averred, adding that it was all due to imprudent economic policies of the government.

Zardari said that the PPP if voted to power in 2018 general elections will frame people-friendly policies to set up a system of economic parity in the country. Asif also criticised the government for its weak foreign policy which, according to him, had pushed the county into international isolation. “There is virtually no foreign policy under the present government which did not have a regular foreign minister for four years,” the ex-president concluded.