PTI to bank on youth, not big names to win polls, says Imran Khan

Banking on the youth’s ability to bring about ‘change’, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) announced its Youth Policy at a Youth Convention that was held on Sunday.
PTI Chairman Imran Khan, along with his team, presented the policy in front of an audience of 10,000.
PTI’s policy focused on the message of change by crushing the status quo forces with the energy of the youth. According to Khan, the basic aim of the policy would be to enable the youth to become good, competent leaders.
He defined ‘youth’ as individuals aged between 18 to 35 years. The PTI policy committed that the party would enable 25 percent of its young representatives to contest general elections and hold positions of power and become future leaders and policy makers.
He said he did not need big names of waderas and others in the party, but the youth of the country alone to ensure success of the party in the elections.
He said if the youth remained with him, he would defeat all political parties and make Pakistan strong so that what happened to him in Toronto did not happen to any other Pakistani ever again. He said if anyone thought that he could purchase the Pakistani youth by distributing laptops, he was mistaken. Khan said God Almighty had given Pakistan everything and if it got an honest leadership, no country could match it.
He said those rejecting PTI’s ‘tsunami’ would witness it wash away all political parties. Elaborating his youth policy, Khan said the PTI was the only party that was providing a chance to youth to contest elections. He urged the youth to participate in party elections.
The PTI chairman said an opportunist and coward could never be a leader, adding that those who wanted to become leaders needed courage and commitment.
National youth foundation and jawan markaz: PTI leaders said an autonomous institution, National Youth Foundation, would be linked to the Ministry of Human Resource and would be given a centralised database of youth. The NYF would oversee the Jawan Markaz, a community centre that shall be set up in every town/tehsil and Union Council level. The purpose of the Jawan Markaz would be to increase connection with the youth and to carry out preventive Health Care Awareness Campaign, emergency management, drug abuse and other social vices. Jawan Markaz would also help in the establishment of rehabilitation centres for terrorism, drug abuse and other psychological disorders especially for youth living in conflict zones such as Balochistan and FATA.
Education and employment facilities: The PTI leader said a uniform education system would be introduced in the country and the budge would be increased from 1.8 percent to 5 percent of the GDP. The policy also contained a detailed plan for increasing the number of students in vocational training programmes from 300,000 to 2 million per annum. Scholarship and interest free loans would also be enhanced dramatically, according to the policy. The speakers also said that experts from all over the world would be invited to hold lectures in universities in Pakistan.
SPORTS: The policy laid out a plan to ensure properly maintained parks and sports complexes within educational institutes and in each locality. Jawan Markaz would be given the charge to organise sports league at tehsil levels. According to the policy, sports-based scholarships/stipends would also be enhanced.
Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi opened the convention with his address. Other speakers at the convention included President Javed Hashmi and Waleed Iqbal. Amna Sadaf, Arsalan Ghuman and members of the PTI youth task force presented the details of the policy to the audience members.
Speaking on the occasion, Khan said, “Our Youth Policy does not believe in one-off gimmicks. It endeavours to permanently empower the youth of Pakistan.” He also stated that PTI is only political party to support the youth of Pakistan. Closing his speech Khan stated that along with the youth PTI will make all efforts to better the status of women in Pakistan. Khan said it was imperative for the youth to overcome fear, to let go of ego and to not lie if they wanted to become a part of the nation-building process.
Symbolic successor: Speaking at the convention, Allama Iqbal’s grandson Munib Iqbal said, “I am the grandson of Allama Iqbal but the real symbolic successor of Iqbal on the political horizon of the country is Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan.” Munib had earlier said the same during a recent interview, when on being asked whether he would spread Iqbal’s poetry after joining the PTI, he had replied, “There isn’t a need to spread Iqbal’s message to common people now as PTI Chairman Imran Khan has already done so.” Commenting on Imran’s reference to Iqbal in his autobiography, Munib had added that the autobiography not only had a chapter dedicated to Iqbal but throughout his book he had repeatedly quoted how Imran had learnt from Iqbal.