One year with the PTI

Last year in the same month, I joined the PTI. My joint press conference with Imran Khan was live broadcasted by almost all news channels. A large number of leading Hindu business personalities including former presidents of the Pakistan Hindu Council were also present on the occasion.

It was indeed a good day for my political career. However, at the same time, it was a very painful decision to leave the PML-N. During my time with them, I gave sincere suggestions repeatedly to avoid the politics of confrontation and personal interests. Alas, there was no change in the attitude of their top leadership. That made me switch the party for achieving my goals to serve the community in larger public interest.

I whole-heartedly welcomed the arrival of the PTI chief at my residence and announced to carry on my struggle under the umbrella of the PTI. I believe that the purpose of politics must be to serve people. In this regard, my role model is Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah who switched from the Indian National Congress to the Muslim League to achieve his noble aims. Even today, I have the same logical demand that the ETPB, one of the most important national institutions, must be headed by some well-qualified and talented Pakistani Hindu citizen.

Representing the non-Muslim Pakistani community, I had assured Imran Khan of the best cooperation to fulfil his dream of transforming Naya Pakistan. We both agreed that there must be stable economy, rule of law and end of corruption in the country. I focused on establishing a welfare state on the basis of the Madina Model where every Pakistani citizen will be allowed to play their due role for the peace and prosperity of our beloved country.

During my many interactions with Imran Khan, I strongly believe that he is committed to making Pakistan free from all social evils such as: corruption, money-laundering, fraud, and injustice. To set an example of good governance, he agreed to probe the allegation of rigging and offered himself for an unconditional accountability.

Bringing back looted money is one of the key priorities of the current government to stabilize national economy. For this purpose, institutions are ensured to be free of all kinds of influence to implement rule of law. This is the prime reason that today we can witness accountability for all.

The way Pakistani government responded to Indian aggression has successfully projected the soft, positive and peace-loving image of Pakistan on the international level. Similarly, the sacking of a provincial information minister over hate speech also demonstrated responsible governance and respect for the sentiments of Hindu minorities.

In my view, the biggest challenge the PTI government is facing is from status quo forces. Due to their huge influence, a layperson believes that whichever party comes into power, the public will remain exploited. To win the people’s trust and confidence, the government needs to control inflation, corruption and the devaluation of the rupee on immediate basis.

Today, every Pakistani citizen is looking towards Imran Khan for the solution of the problems they are facing. Particularly, non-Muslim patriotic nationals are in dire need of the PTI’s support for their survival. In this regard, my personal suggestion is that Imran Khan should avoid the policies of picking and choosing, and must focus on merit for the implementation of his agenda. We should not forget that all the leaders of the Pakistan movement were true examples of loyalty and honesty. However, Quaid-e-Azam had preferred merit only at the time of forming his cabinet after independence. Therefore, only those were selected who were able to deliver good performance.

On the completion of my one year with the PTI, I am quite confident that the Imran Khan-led PTI government will succeed to overcome all crises and move Pakistan towards peace, progress and prosperity.

I also want to assure Pakistani citizens that for the betterment of my beloved country, I will continue to promote Quaid-e-Azam vision at every available platform including parliament and the media.

The writer is a member of the National Assembly and patron-in-chief of the Pakistan Hindu Council.

Twitter: @RVankwani