‘Lawbreakers’ will be thrown in jail, vows Imran

By News Desk

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has thrown down the gauntlet ahead of the opposition’s Pakistan Democratic Movement political rallies, challenging them to hold as many Jalsas as they want, but if they break the law, they will be thrown in jail.

“Carry out as many Jalsas (public gatherings) as you want, but remember: in case the law is violated, you will be put in an ordinary cell — not a VIP jail,” he warned the politicians, who he said had gathered at a platform to “save their corruption”.

Khan was addressing a seminar of the All Pakistan Insaf Lawyers Forum (ILF) at the Convention Centre on Friday.

The Prime Minister said the “one-point agenda of all jobless politicians” giving a call for public gatherings against the government was to “cover up their corruption by not conforming to the rule of law”.

Referring to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) founder Nawaz Sharif, who has been speaking to his party via video link from London, Khan said: “Sitting in London and asking the people to take to streets is meant to show that the rulers who looted the country for 30 years are above the law.” The Prime Minister, while describing the rule of law as the basis of a civilised society, said the “ruling elite class” had caused irreparable losses to the national economy through “plunder and corruption” during their tenures. Those leaders, he said, were now “maligning the government, the Army and the judiciary”, in order to get relief in the form of an NRO (a National Reconciliation Ordinance-like concession).

Khan said the “coalition of dacoits” was opposing the government just as it was making the country “financially strong and stable”. He said the opposition parties “used every tactic to get the country blacklisted by the FATF” (Financial Action Task Force) while they tried to “pressure the government” to carry out 34 amendments in the National Accountability Ordinance.

The Premier said the cabinet had allowed the PML-N supremo to get medical treatment abroad in view of “number of diseases” claimed. “However by refusing to return to the country, Nawaz Sharif is proving that he belongs to

a special class that cannot be questioned.”

He said likening Nawaz Sharif with Iranian spiritual leader Ayatollah Khomeini by a PML-N spokesman was “quite ridiculous”. “Khomeini was loved by his people. He led a simple life and owned a small house when he passed away. How can he (Khomeini) be compared with a person who has made billions in property, from one factory to 30, and had the Panama properties in his daughter’s name?” he added.

Khan said Nawaz Sharif “did not present a single document to prove his money trail”, but on the contrary he (Khan) showed all purchase contracts of his London flat bought some 40 years ago.

“In fact, they feel no shame in looting the money from public exchequer belonging to the poor people of this country,” he said, stressing that how could Pakistan prosper in the absence of the law, where rulers considered themselves above the law and indulged in corruption.

He referred to an international report saying that around $1,000 billion is drained annually from the poor to rich countries through corruption and exploitation by the elite.

The Premier said Nawaz Sharif was in fact “promoting the agenda of India by maligning the Pakistan Army and ignoring the situation that countries like Libya, Somalia and Yemen faced in the absence of a strong military”. “I don’t have any problem with the Army because it supports our manifesto and has effectively assisted the government during the situation like Covid-19 and Karachi rains,” he said.

Referring to Nawaz Sharif’s statement that the then Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief had demanded resignation from him, he said, “If this is so, why he remained silent. This is because that he knew of his involvement in corruption.”

The Prime Minister mentioned that Pakistan was at a “tipping point” after two difficult years of dealing with economy nearing the verge of collapse.