Will march on Islamabad even if govt is sent packing: Imran

PESHAWAR: Accusing the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)-affiliated lawyers of attacking the accountability court, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan on Friday threatened to march on Islamabad if the government created hurdles in the court proceedings in corruption cases against the Sharif family.

"We would march on Islamabad if what happened in the accountability court today is repeated. We do not care if the puppet regime is sent packing but we would not let the democratic dispensation derail," he told a public meeting at the Peshawar Ring Road in connection with the by-poll in the National Assembly constituency NA-4 Peshawar.

He said it was pre-planned as the Sharif family was not willing to surrender the Rs300 billion they looted and stashed abroad. "He (Nawaz Sharif) knew that the capital he shifted abroad would be frozen and returned to Pakistan if the court decided the case against him. That's why they would use every mean to escape accountability," he added.

Imran said the PML-N was
utilising all its energies to save the skin of the party's corrupt leaders and risking the democratic system in the process. "They are even not refraining from maligning the state institutions. All they are doing is to protect the Sharif family," he asserted.

The PTI chief alleged that the Sharif family was involved in money laundering and had shifted Rs300 billion abroad. He claimed that $10 billion was laundered annually in Pakistan. 

Dubbing Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi as a puppet prime minister, he alleged that Abbasi was protecting a corrupt person. Imran pointed out that Nawaz Sharif asked as to why was he disqualified and then said that he was sent packing for holding a work permit. "Nawaz Sharif was disqualified for money laundering and had used the work permit to shift the capital abroad," the PTI chairman claimed.

Imran said money laundering was a social evil and it added to the country's debt figures. "Due to corruption and money laundering, successive governments had to take loans from International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other lenders and imposed new taxes to pay the interest and return the loans," he argued. "Ultimately, the burden is shifted to the poor as new taxes are imposed causing inflation and high prices of edibles and other commodities," he elaborated.

Lambasting Asif Ali Zardari for criticising the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government, Imran remarked that it was the sign of doomsday that someone like Zardari was speaking against corruption. "He is the ring leader of ‘thieves’. Asif Zardari! you are the biggest disease of the country," the PTI leader remarked.

He said Zardari and his sister Faryal Talpur had filed Rs1 billion each defamation cases against him for calling them corrupt. "Asif Zardari! you are the most corrupt person," he repeated his allegation.

Imran also came down hard on Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Mehmood Khan Achakzai for opposing the merger of Fata with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and termed their decision wrong as the tribespeople had suffered a lot, faced displacement and destruction and needed to be brought into the national mainstream. Accusing them of creating hurdles in the mainstreaming of Fata, Imran felt the merger would help remove sense of deprivation among the tribal people and pave the way for development of the region. He said Fazlur Rehman was using religion for political purposes and his vested interest. He said that some politicians used nationality and others religion for their own interests. He stated that Mehmood Khan Achakzai called himself leader of Pakhtuns in Balochistan, but served his own interest. He announced to take up the issues of Fata reforms forcefully and use the PTI energies to get materialised the merger with KP.

Taking Asfandyar Wali Khan to task, Imran said he escaped after a suicide attack on him and flew to Islamabad. "Asfandyar Wali used the Pakhtun card to promote his vested interest. Why is he supporting corrupt leaders like Nawaz Sharif and Zardari?" he asked. He maintained that the ANP promoted the culture of 'easyload' and committed huge corruption during its rule.

"Nawaz Sharif, Asif Ali Zardari, Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Asfandyar are corrupt and this is the reason they are supporting each other. They are the most corrupt people and looters," he alleged.

The PTI chief asked the people to vote for the PTI candidate in the NA-4 Peshawar by-election and reject the 'corrupt'. "The time for taking the right decision has come. You have to send a message to the rest of the country by rejecting corruption," he said. 

He hoped the PTI would win the next general elections and form its government in all the four provinces and the Centre.

On the occasion, ANP's Arbab Najeebullah Khalil announced joining the PTI. Chief Minister Pervez Khattak also spoke on the occasion. 

Mumtaz Alvi adds from Islamabad: Imran Khan alleged that the PML-N attacked the judiciary for the second time to protect the over Rs30 billion Sharifs’ looted money stashed abroad.

“Now we know the drama of darbari Ahsan Iqbal over the Rangers' presence in NAB court -- it was to leave the NAB judge unprotected,” he said in messages on his Twitter account. He was referring to the October 2 incident when the Rangers took control of the Federal Judicial Complex and did not allow anyone, including Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal, to enter its premises.

Imran wrote, “Clearly, PML-N is hell-bent on destroying all state institutions. People of Pakistan must be prepared to stand up & defend our state institutions.” 

The PTI chairman emphasised that the destruction of state institutions means the disintegration of the state. He said that this is the Sharif agenda, which nation must counter.

In his reaction to the incident, the PTI spokesman Fawad Chaudhry requested the Supreme Court's monitoring judge for the accountability proceedings, Justice Ijazul Ahsan to take notice of the incident.

Fawad also called for the resignation of Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry, who was present in the court on Friday. The PTI spokesman urged the apex court's judge to place Maryam Nawaz and Captain Safdar's name on the exit control list.

He alleged that the ‘ruckus in the court’ was a well-planned conspiracy by the PML-N to delay the Sharif family members' indictment.