SHEIKHUPURA: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan has said that the Hudaibiya case will spell disaster for the entire Sharif family as the graft case involves the names of all members of the family.
Addressing a public gathering here on Sunday, Khan said the woes facing the country could not be fixed until the leaders stopped milking it, and added that the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) days were numbered.
Criticising PML-N president Nawaz Sharif and Pakistan People’s Party Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, Khan said the country’s sad state of affairs was due to the likes of Nawaz Sharif and Asif Zardari. He also recalled that foreign tourists used to visit Pakistan in its glorious past, but the country had been so badly exploited now that even Pakistanis were going to foreign countries for in search of better employment opportunities and a healthy lifestyle.
The PTI chairman pointed out that it was very easy to make money in a position of power in Pakistan due to its plight, and said that Nawaz Sharif did exactly that as he had only one factory in 1982, but these multiplied to 30 by the year 1992.
Imran Khan also lashed out at the Sheikhupura deputy commissioner for not providing a stadium for his public meeting as he mocked him as Shehbaz Sharif’s errand boy.
Khan pointed out what he called ‘double standards’ of the PML-N, saying their leaders used to label him as the agent of Jewish lobby at home while presented him as ‘Taliban Khan’ abroad, recalling Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif’s remarks in the United States labeling the N-League as a liberal party and the PTI as the one aligned to the ultra-conservative right-wing.
“Those who had labelled me as an agent of Jewish lobby were the ones who altered the Khatam-e-Nabuwwat clause in the elections bill to appease their ‘Western masters’,” Khan went on to say, adding that they denied it after the nation reacted harshly, but acknowledged it in the end.
The PTI chief also came down hard on the former National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairman, saying that “he was a hurdle in the way of true accountability…he saved many culprits of the nation”.
He also warned that the future PTI government would drag him back to Pakistan and hold him answerable for his deeds.
Khan asserted that once the PTI came in power, it would fix the country from inside out and would not let anyone exploit its resources, including the financial ones, claiming that he had not given ‘special benefits’ to anyone in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa using his party’s provincial position.
Imran Khan also appealed to the people to act justly and kindly towards the county’s minorities.
Speaking at the procession, Awami Muslim League (AML) leader Sheikh Rasheed said Nawaz Sharif’s time was up and that the future belonged to Imran Khan.
He also said that they planned to hit the last nail in the PML-N politics’ coffin from December 11 to March 11.
“Pakistan has been stuck in the quagmire of corruption and injustice since its creation due to corrupt and tyrant leaders, but this plight will exist no longer once corrupt political leadership is ousted,” Rasheed added.
PTI spokesperson Fawad Chaudhry meanwhile predicted that the government would not survive until the next year.
He also reiterated his party’s unconditional support to Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) leader Dr Tahirul Qadri in his demand for the resignations of Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Law Minister Rana Sanaullah.
Fawad maintained that the census bill would be presented for approval in the Senate, but it did not matter whether the members passed it or not as the Article 224 of the Constitution was quite clear in allowing elections in 90 days.
“In case the government ends, there is a constitutional requirement for holding new elections. Unless and until the results of census are not released, they do not hold any constitutional status; therefore, article 224 and 51 are not in variance with each other,” added the PTI spokesperson.