LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan will become the first national leader to visit Youhanabad, the largest Christian locality in the country, today.
Khan is scheduled to visit Youhanabad as a part of his party’s membership drive in the city, where the arrangements for his welcome are in full swing. He will also participate in a function in connection with Easter.
PTI’s Christian and Muslim lawmakers and workers including Member of Provincial Assembly (MPA) Mian Aslam Iqbal, MPA Shunila Ruth, Hammad Azhar, Asif Sohail Khokhar for the past several days have been busy to finalise the arrangements to welcome the party chief in Youhanabad.
“All arrangements have been finalised to give a grand reception to Imran Khan in Youhanabad,” PTI MPA Shunila Ruth said while talking to Pakistan Today.
“Imran Khan is the second leader after the founder of Pakistan, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, who cares for all minorities including Christians, Sikhs, Hindus and others. The Sharif family never cared for the minorities,” she said while adding that Khan’s visit to the locality was not only good news for the residents, but also for all the Christians living in the country.
Criticising all “short-sighted” leaders including Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif for never visiting the locality, she said that Shehbaz used to pass by the locality during his election campaigns but never cared to stop and step out of his car, despite the fact that it falls in his constituency.
“Imran Khan is laying the foundation stone of a new Pakistan as per the vision of Jinnah and is bringing change in the country,” she said.
Youhanabad Union Council Chairman and PTI leader Asif Sohail Khokhar, who himself hails from the Christian community said the Christians were full of joy over Khan’s visit. “We will give a historic welcome to him. Youhanabad is a locality of poor and it lacks basic infrastructure. There are no government colleges, schools, universities or dispensaries for the residents. Even clean drinking water is not available for the dwellers of the locality,” he said and added that Imran Khan would highlight these issues and resolve them when the PTI comes to power.
It is pertinent to note that Imran Khan reached Lahore on Saturday and went to Liberty Chowk, Yateem Khana and other areas in the city where he addressed the party workers. He will be visiting Youhanabad, Thokhar Niaz Beg, Akbar Chowk, Dubai Chowk and Saddar Bazaar in Lahore Cantonment today.