Accountability of mighty beginning of new Pakistan: Imran

MINGORA/TIMERGARA: Commenting on the court verdict against the Sharif family, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Friday said the powerful were being held accountable for the first time in Pakistan and it is a beginning of a new Pakistan.

He said that the nation should offer prayers as the corrupt and mighty had been sentenced. He said that the looters of public money would go to jail rather than going to the assemblies.

Addressing separate public gatherings in Mingora, Swat and Timergara, Lower Dir districts, Imran Khan said the children of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif had given contradictory statements previously about owning apartments in London.

Nawaz Sharif was sentenced to 11 years in prison and fined a £8 million in the Avenfield properties reference on Friday while his daughter Maryam Nawaz was sentenced to eight years with a £2 million fine.

Imran Khan added that July 25 would see the dawn of a 'new Pakistan'. The PTI chief stated that Nawaz' son had accepted the ownership of the London properties on television.

He also lamented the lodging of several cases against him for his struggle to expose the Sharif family's corruption.

Claiming that Nawaz Sharif and Pakistan People's Party chief Asif Zardari destroyed the state institutions, Imran Khan said he joined politics to rid the country of corruption.

He said that 22 years back, he came into politics to make Pakistan a corruption-free state. He said that corruption is spreading in the society like cancer.

"Nawaz Sharif and his children also knew that they had committed corruption," he said and added that former federal minister Khawaja Asif once said that the people of Pakistan would forget the Panama Leaks, but today his boss had been convicted for corruption.

Imran Khan alleged that the Punjab Police lodged more than 30 FIRs against him in a bid to silence him.

He said that all the civil institutions were paralysed due to the power tactics of the Sharif family. However, he said the two members of the joint investigation team (JIT) from the Pakistan Army exposed the corruption of Nawaz Sharif and his family.

Lamenting the past statement of Nawaz Sharif about the Mumbai attacks, the PTI chairman claimed that the PML-N leader was advancing the narrative of the enemy.

"Pakistan has been put in the grey list by Financial Action Task Force due to such irresponsible statements of Nawaz Sharif," he added.

The PTI chairman admitted that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ehtesab Commission had failed to deliver and said the accountability system would be reformed after coming into power. He that people like Amir Muqam had joined politics to make money.

Imran Khan said in the last five years, the PTI-led provincial government brought drastic changes in the governance and today the police, health and education system of KP were praised everywhere.

Earlier, speaking at a public gathering in Timergara, Imran Khan came down hard on Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rahman for being part of every government in the past.

"He remained part of every government in the past just to promote his own interests," the PTI chief said, adding, "This time round, we will not let him do so."

Imran Khan expressed these views while addressing a mammoth gathering of party workers here at Timergara Resthouse. He also questioned Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) leaders for forming an alliance with JUI-F.

Imran Khan said on July 25 the corrupt mafia would be defeated forever. He said participation of a large number of people in PTI processions was a proof that they were satisfied with the performance of the PTI government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.