ISLAMABAD- After starting the politics of agitation and forcibly getting released some of his party workers from the police custody, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan Monday tried to give himself a clean chit by saying that the police had no right to arrest peaceful protestors.
In his Monday night address to a thin crowd of supporters at the Constitution Avenue, Khan, who apparently looked perturbed after finding himself at a critical stage of his political career for showing no flexibility over his demand of PM’s resignation, said he made unlawful act last night only to get peaceful protestors of his party freed.
Imran also tried to involve the judiciary in the present political crisis by saying that it was the responsibility of the judiciary to provide justice to the masses as PTI was looking towards it for justice. “I say chief justice of Pakistan that I am looking towards you. Tell me in which democracy people were arrested only for participating in the peaceful sit-in. When I got freed the people from police last night, around 1500 police personnel were sent to my Bani Gala residence,” he said and condemned the government’s act.
He asked Prime Minister Sharif that he (Imran) would stand against him whether he (Sharif) sends one hundred thousand police personnel to his residence. He said that his workers were being kidnapped, adding peaceful protest was their democratic right.
Sensing the situation that his crowd becomes thick on weekends, the PTI chief said that he was giving another call of Friday for a big show and warned the government that a flood of people would come here at D-Chowk on that day. He claimed that his Friday’s crowd would cause the government sleepless nights.
At the start of his speech, Imran congratulated his supporters, calling them tigers for participating in the sit-in despite police terrorism.
Narrating the stories of his daylong visit of flood-hit areas of Jhang and Chiniot, Khan said he heard the slogans ‘go Nawaz go’ there. “PML-N is enjoying its 6th government in Punjab and Nawaz Sharif became prime minister for the third time but the party is showing its surprise over floodwater,” he showed his concern. He added that Nawaz Sharif would know the miseries of the people if he would get some free time from money making through corruption.
Khan alleged that a dyke in Jhang was not broken for 48 hours to save the sugar mills of Sharif family and as a result the poor masses had to suffer a lot. He alleged that the people in the flood-hit areas told him that a bridge having cost of Rs 2.5 billion was being built in Jhang only for Ramzan Sugar Mills owned by Sharif family. “The people told me that the mill management has not paid them the price of sugarcane for the last one year,” he said.
According to a report of Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development, around 6 million Pakistanis including doctors and engineers migrated aboard from 1981 to 2013 and among these 2.7 million people migrated during the last five years, he said. He told that according to UNICEF report, 12 million children were involved in child labour in Pakistan and 5.5 children did not go to schools. World Economic Forum says that Pakistan is among the 16 countries whose economy was worst and its Global Competitive Report shows that Pakistan was among the 10 most difficult states, he informed the crowd. He said, “Failed States Index shows that Pakistan was at the number 34 in 2005 and now stands at number 10 among failed states.” He said that children in Pakistan were dying of contaminated water and one mother dies after every 30 second during childbirth.
“Tell me if PM Sharif had not spent Rs 1.5 billion on foreign visits and Rs 2.5 billion on the construction of that bridge, how many children would get clean drinking water,” he said.
He criticising the president of Pakistan said what did he do there as per day expenditure of Presidency was Rs 2.1 million. He added that the PM House cost Rs 2 million daily to the exchequer. “I will not live in PM House and I have decided to vacate it (when I will come to power),” he said.
He also criticised the TV anchors and alleged them of getting bribe for saying that crowd in his sit-in was thin. He said that Nawaz was showing all signs of losers.
Today is world democracy day, said Imran and questioned his crowd whether in Pakistan’s democracy there were free and fair elections, rule of law persisted and the people were getting education, health and justice that were the pillars of democracy. He again reiterated that Chief Minister Balochistan had a fake mandate and he was not representing the people pf Balochistan. He said that the role of Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry in election rigging dented the face of independent judiciary. Interestingly, Khan questioned why PML-N did not hold local bodies election in the last five years and ignored the fact that his party has also not conducted local government elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.