CPEC will light up Pakistan, says Imran

PTI has a problem with federal govt, not China; accuses Zardari, Shahbaz, Siraj of corruption

SWABI: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan said on Sunday that the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) will light up the country.

Imran Khan said the PTI has no issues with China, but is has problem with the federal government. He said his party would strive to mobilise people against the corrupt practices of the rulers.

"Our fight is against the corrupt leaders who have become so powerful that they escape punishment because of flaws in our justice system," he said while addressing a public gathering in Swabi.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser, Chief Minister Pervaiz Khattak, provincial ministers Shahram Tarakai, Atif Khan and Shah Farman also spoke on the occasion. "We knocked at the doors of different institutions, but we couldn't get justice. Now we will go to the court of the people," Imran Khan declared.

The PTI chief accused Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif of weakening the institutions for his vested interests. He alleged that the prime minister sent Rs740 million to his son abroad to do business. "From where did this money come?" he asked. He said the money belonged to the people of Pakistan and it should have been spent on their well-being. The PTI leader alleged that the prime minister stashed wealth in offshore bank accounts.

Imran also accused the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) head Senator Sirajul Haq, Pakistan People's Party (PPP) co-chairman and former president Asif Ali Zardari and Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif of being corrupt.

It was the first time he accused Sirajul Haq of being corrupt. The Jamaat-e-Islami is an ally of the PTI in KP. However, the two parties have no alliance in rest of the country.

"If we failed to eradicate the menace of corruption, there will be no economic progress. The problem of unemployment will become more serious and the prevailing uncertainty would discourage investors," he maintained.

About the remarks of Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan that the Supreme Court should appoint the chief of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), he said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif would never agree to it as he wanted to hide his corruption by choosing his blue-eyed person for this job.

He said the poor didn't get justice while the rich used the loopholes in the laws to their advantage. "This alienated the have-nots. East Pakistan became Bangladesh in 1971 when the Bengalis didn't get their due rights," he recalled.

Imran said the government was spending a huge amount on security in Balochistan because the people of this province were deprived of their rights.

"It is the height of injustice that natural gas was discovered in Balochistan, but it was provided to the local people after five decades. The people of Balochistan didn't get justice and they have now risen up against the unjust policies," he noted with concern.

About the CPEC, he said, "Our fight is against the federal government, not China. CPEC is a great gift from China and it can change the destiny of Pakistan. We want the prime minister to honour the pledges he made at the All Parties Conference in Islamabad."

He said the western route passed through underdeveloped areas of Pakistan and its execution would bring progress and prosperity there.