Nawaz to win next polls through corruption: Imran

LAHORE/ RAWALPINDI: PTI Chairman Imran Khan on Saturday accused Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif of having planned to win the 2018 elections, saying he would use billions of rupees he had made through corruption to purchase the polls.

He appealed to the Supreme Court to put Nawaz Sharif’s name on the ECL till the issue of Panama Papers was resolved so as to prevent him from fleeing the country.

Imran threatened Nawaz of staging a sit-in outside his Raiwind residence after Eid-ul-Azha, if he failed to give answers to his four questions (ToRs).

He was addressing a crowd of party workers and those of allied parties outside the Punjab Assembly late Saturday night after leading a rally from Shahdara. The gathering was also addressed by PPP leader Latif Khosa, Kamil Ali Agha of PML-Q, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Jahangir Tareen and others.

Imran’s four points included that the PM should give proof of money from which the London flats were purchased along with the tax paid on it. Two, show the source of his income. Three, how the money was sent abroad, either through banks or money laundering. Four, what amount of tax was paid on that money.

Imran also accused Nawaz of purchasing many national institutions to prolong his rule, including the media.

Coming hard on the heads of institutions like NAB and FBR, Imran said they were not serving as state servants but of Sharif family.

He said the PTI moved from pillar to post for justice but to no avail. Now, he said he was hopeful that the Supreme Court would deliver justice.

Condemning the killing of PTI worker Mirza Tanveer who was pursuing a case related to the murder of two persons, Imran alleged that he was eliminated just because he refused to bow before the pressure of PML-N-backed elements.

He said even Hamza Shahbaz had sent him a message to visit him at Model Town but the deceased refused. He was killed by the elements backed by Hamza, Imran alleged.

Praising the Chief of the Army Staff Gen Raheel Sharif, Imran stated he saluted him for his honesty because he was offered to become a field marshal by the Sharif government but he refused to sell his integrity. Imran said he also had great regard for the late COAS Gen Asif Nawaz Janjua, who refused to accept a BMW car offered by Nawaz at that time.

He also lauded the police officials like Nekokara and Aftab Cheema for their refusal to bow before the pressure of the Sharif government.

Earlier, the rally ‘Ehtesab March’ moved at a snail’s pace from Shahdara and reached Azadi Chowk at 10 pm, covering a distance of nearly three kilometres in five hours amidst unusually strict security measures by the city police, which had practically sealed the route by blocking all entry points, using containers.

The notable leaders of allied parties seen at the start of rally were only from the PML-Q – Raja Basharat and Tariq Bashir Cheema – who were riding their own truck moving behind Imran’s container. However, none of any notable leaders of PAT, PPP, AML and Jamaat-e-Islami were seen during the initial hours. But groups of workers of these opposition parties were moving along with the rally in small groups holding party flags and banners, and portraits of their leaders.

Even Basharat and Cheema left the rally before it reached the Azadi Chowk. However, Khosa and Agha joined Imran’s container after it reached the Punjab Assembly. Before reaching the Azadi march, Imran’s container remained stopped for over an hour for unknown reasons while Imran was not seen during that period.

According to the rally’s plan, Imran Khan was scheduled to address the welcome camps set up at the Azadi Chowk, Bhati Gate, Nasir Bagh and GPO Chowk before reaching the Punjab Assembly. But he was forced to skip the address of Nasir Bagh and made only a brief address of three to four minutes at the GPO Chowk.

Against all the expectations, the rally could not draw an impressive crowd despite that five other opposition parties had been supporting it. The PTI leaders claimed that 50,000 people participated in the march but independent observers say the number of people was less than 10,000.

Meanwhile, some incidents of eve teasing were also reported despite the claims made by the PTI leadership. One of these incidents occurred before the media men at the Punjab Assembly during the final address of Imran.

Earlier, Imran, addressing the rally at Shahdara, said the country would become a great nation if people could win the war against corruption. “We are fighting a war of Pakistan’s survival,” he said, adding that the rich were getting richer and the poor getting poorer due to cruel capitalist policies of the rulers.

“People have come out on streets against corruption of rulers and they won’t leave now. I want to tell the NAB chairman that we are coming.

“We will approach the judiciary again. We don’t want to put any pressure on the judiciary, but the nation wants to know when the judiciary will hold the rulers accountable for their corruption,” he said. He said the Election Commission of Pakistan was acting as the Election Commission of Noon League.

Imran warned the NAB chairman that “Mr Chairman! You have to be answerable to Almighty not Nawaz Sharif. We know how you are sending billions of rupees to Dubai.

“Our rally is not only aimed at pressurising Nawaz Sharif. Its objective is to pressurise the state institutions for their failure to take action against Nawaz Sharif over the Panama Leaks.”

In Rawalpindi, PAT Chairman Dr Tahirul Qadri on Saturday asked Gen Raheel to think about the fact that “who will do justice to the martyrs if he retires and declines to take an extension in service as he had promised to provide justice for the Model Town tragedy”.

The PAT chief said he wanted to remind Gen Raheel that he had promised that justice would be done with the victims of Model Town tragedy. He said that they will never accept anything less than Qasas and executions for the murderers of the victims of Model Town tragedy.

“Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif are the murderers of the martyrs of Model Town firing and one day they will be hanged,” Tahirul Qadri said while addressing a gathering at the Rehmanabad Chowk here at the end of Qasas rally, adding that the murderers would not be forgiven.

He alleged that around 300 Indians are working in factories owned by the Sharif family and they used to move across the Wagah border. “They are received at the Wagah border and are escorted to the Model Town,” he said, adding that he also has the passport numbers and dates of their arrival in Pakistan.

The PAT chief said it was the responsibility of institutions to take notice of the presence of Indian agents in the mills of Sharif family. He alleged that telephone record of Indian spy Kulbhushan Yadev was also found from a mill owned by Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif.

Tahirul Qadri claimed that the Sharif family had also signed agreements with India to start power generation projects in Pakistan. Displaying a paper, he claimed that he also possesses a copy of the agreement. He said in the next rounds of movement, he had two options; either to march towards Raiwind or Islamabad. He said India was now struggling to save the rule of Nawaz Sharif in Pakistan.

The PAT chief said he would not compromise on the blood of victims of Model Town tragedy, adding that he had also been approached through external powers and ministers but he rejected their offers. “We can snatch justice in seven days but I want to tell you that we are peaceful people and do not want a civil war in the country,” he said.

Shaikh Rashid Ahmad, president of Awami Muslim League (AML), challenged Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to contest the election on National Assembly seat from Rawalpindi.

“I am ready to resign as Member National Assembly and challenge Nawaz Sharif to contest the by-election against me from NA-55 or NA-56,” he said.

He also dubbed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif as a friend of Indian Premier Narendra Modi. “I am not a friend of Prime Minister Modi and I will continue to fight against the agents of India,” Shaikh Rashid said, adding that Nawaz Sharif invited Modi to his residence without giving any prior information to the agencies.

The AML chief said he received a letter from the government on Saturday that there were threats to his life. “I want to tell them that I am a suicidal politician and do not care about such threats,” he said.

Shaikh Rashid called upon the masses to come out on the roads to save the country. “The country will break up if the masses do not come out on roads,” he said.

Tahirul Qadri earlier said while travelling to Rawalpindi that Tehreek-e-Qasas would continue till the removal of the incumbent rulers. He said Nawaz Sharif had put the country’s security and integrity at stake for the sake of his interests.

“Nawaz Sharif also created hurdles in the way of success of Zarb-e-Azb operation,” he alleged.

He regretted that the government had demonstrated the worst kind of dictatorship by putting roadblocks in the way of his rally that entered Islamabad via Motorway after the Maghrib prayers.

Qadri said he was sure that there would be supremacy of the law and Constitution in the country and Zarb-e-Azb operation would also succeed.