Imran Khan ridicules rival leaders

Says PTI going to Islamabad after burning its boats; won’t end sit-in before taking resignation from PM

BATKHELA: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan while ridiculing some national leaders said on Monday that the final round would be played against the team of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on November 2.

Speaking at a public meeting at the Sakhakot Colony Ground, Imran Khan lambasted his opponents calling them them slanderous names. “Who will be the vice president of Nawaz Sharif’s team, easy load, Imran said while taunting the ANP chief Asfandyar Wali Khan. He also said that the third member of Nawaz Sharif’s team will be Asif Ali Zardari. He said ‘Showbaaz’ Sharif also made a lot of money, adding that Amir Muqam and Akram Durrani will also be a part of the PM’s team.

"This team includes Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Akram Khan Durrani, Asif Ali Zardari and Mehmood Khan Achakzai," he alleged. Imran said the PTI activists are going to Islamabad after burning their boats and will never end the sit-in before taking resignation from Nawaz Sharif. He said November 2 would decide the future of Pakistan as the country would get independence in the real sense after protests in Islamabad.

"It would be a decisive match and the youth would decide whether to become an independent nation on that day or continue to suffer at the hands of these people," he remarked. The PTI chief said strengthening the democratic system in Pakistan was possible only when all the institutions of the country, including judiciary, were freed from all kind of political interference. Imran said development of countries was linked with good governance. "The corrupt rulers cannot steer the country out of crisis despite abundance of natural resources," he believed.

"Allama Muhammad Iqbal had dreamt of an Islamic welfare state, but the corrupt mafia has turned the Two-Nation Theory into a dream," he added. Imran said foreign investors would not risk investing in Pakistan when the rulers deposited their money in foreign companies.

The PTI chief said the youth would have to force the rulers to bring back their money to the country which would not only restore the respect of Pakistan in the international community, but also would make them accountable for the wealth they had amassed. He said Nawaz Sharif had fled to Jeddah last time but the protesters on November 2 would not allow him to escape this time. "The only option he has is to surrender the looted money and offer himself for accountability," he declared.

  Mumtaz Alvi adds from Islamabad: Imran Khan alleged that whenever Nawaz Sharif faced difficult time, Indian Premier Narendra Modi came to his rescue. “There is a bid to isolate the Pakistan Army at a time when its role is very important,” the PTI chairman went on to allege and further charged that Nawaz was appealing to India and Israel to save him from accountability.

Talking to media persons at his Banigala residence, Imran alleged that whenever something happened against the prime minister, firing broke out at the border or some activity began at the Line of Control (LoC) or explosions took place. Imran added that they were seriously thinking about this phenomenon.

Imran's spokesperson Dr Shireen Mazari also in tweet messages said, "We need to know how many non-dips r present in Pak esp Isl these days? Private contractors incl under NGO cover are all over Isl! Will Pak demand US embassy cut its nos down to an equv of r dips in US esp since US has threatened 'to it alone' ag terrorists. US latest diatribe ag Pak has an attack on ISI by name! Will Pak govt keep silent or move diplomatically by issuing US envoy a demarche?".

Referring to the statements given at the international level against the Army, Imran questioned did the minister for defence reply to the statements issued by the Indian prime minister and the United States against the Army and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and the ISI. 

He again questioned was not it the duty of the minister of defence to issue a statement that both the prime minister and the army chief were on the same page when Indian Premier Narendra Modi said that Nawaz Sharif had delivered his speech at the United Nations General Assembly under General Raheel Sharif's pressure.

The PTI chairman pointed out that instead of fulfilling his responsibilities, the minister for defence was engaged in rescuing the prime minister from accountability for his corruption. He charged the government and its ministers spoke only when the prime minister was under attack. 

He claimed that the PTI was bringing some one million people to Islamabad for its lockdown. He reiterated that there was still time for the prime minister to either step down or accept the opposition’s terms of reference for investigation into PanamaLeaks. Replying to a question, Imran explained that to come into power and then pocket benefits was called corruption. 

Referring to the ruling PML-N leaders’ allegations, Imran said he might be held accountable if he had done anything wrong but there should be no blackmailing. He regretted that to save the prime minister’s corruption, a hospital was being attacked. “For God’s sake, don’t’ target a hospital to save Nawaz Sharif,” he pleaded. Imran called them ‘motu gang’, which had lost its original looks because of lying so much to defend corruption. He asserted that it was a demand from the entire Pakistan that those, who leaked the security information, must be brought forward.

Meanwhile, a flurry of activities took place at Banigala, where senior leadership, including Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Jehangir Tareen, Imran Ismail, Amir Kayani, Dr Shahzad Wasim, Shoaib Siddiqui, Aizaz Asif, Asad Umar, Ali Awan, Faisal Javed and Amir Mughal discussed various aspects of the proposed siege of the federal capital.

It was learnt that the main sit-in would be staged from Faizabad intersection to Zero Point and that it would be another Tahrir Square. Tahrir Square is in downtown of Cairo, where demonstrations were held, which led to revolution in Egypt in 2011 and resignation of President Hosni Mubarak.

The meeting reiterated that the event would be peaceful and that utmost efforts would be made to keep the workers away from being arrested, as the government would try to trigger confrontation between the police and PTI activists. 

The lockdown arrangements would be finalised by October end. A strategy was also thrashed out to protect female party activists and how to deal with the government machinations. Meanwhile, the PTI central information secretary Naeemul Haq challenged Information and Broadcasting Minister Senator Pervaiz Rashid to muster up moral courage to reveal name of those, who leaked the security meeting information, as already three weeks had gone by and there had been no progress with regards to probe into the matter.