Ag Agencies
SAHIWAL: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday said people ask where the promised “Tabdeeli” is and offered doubters a response by describing the razing of the “powerful landgrabbers palaces” as the manifestation of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) change.
The Prime Minister made the remarks at one of several engagements during a visit to Sahiwal, where he held separate interactions with the public, party parliamentarians and journalists.
In a ceremony where the government distributed cheques and handed out of tractors under the Ehsaas and Kamyab Jawan programmes respectively, the Prime Minister commended Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar and his team for going after the “powerful occupiers of land”, some of whom were “backed by a former prime minister and his family”.
“This is the true change when big bandits are taken to task and brought to justice,” he said, adding that only the nations that uphold the supremacy of law prosper. He said Islam’s first socio-welfare State of Medina was also based on the principles of justice and equality for all.
His remarks come days after Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) lawmakers Saiful Malook and Mir Afzal Khokhar’s residence in Lahore was demolished in an operation the Punjab government said was to reclaim government land. The PML-N claims the effort was carried out at the behest of the Prime Minister, and against court stay orders.
In another meeting on Friday, the Prime Minister spoke to authorities in Sahiwal and urged them to crack down against the “mafia involved in illegal occupation of land”, to prevent the exploitation of the poor and weaker sections of society.
The Prime Minister issued directives to the local administration to hold open Kutchery (forums) every month for resolution of issues on priority basis. Punjab Governor Chaudhry Sarwar and Chief Minister Buzdar were also present in the meeting.
The meeting also discussed several topics, including political matters, public welfare, development projects relating to health, education and the agricultural sector.
In a conversation with journalists, the Prime Minister spoke about the opposition, who he said the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) was destined to fail, and were “blackmailing” him for concessions — an NRO. “A fugitive leader wants to bring about a revolution by sitting in London,” the Prime Minister said, without naming Nawaz Sharif.
He said government lands cannot be occupied without political backing. He also said Maryam Nawaz expressed solidarity with “Qabza mafia” by standing on illegal Khokhar Palace. The Premier was referring to Maryam’s visit to their residence a day earlier. “Calling herself a leader of the future, Maryam Nawaz is supporting the Qabza mafia,” he added. He vowed that big bandits and the land-grabbing “mafia” will not be spared.