Will not rest without toppling govt, warns Fazlur Rehman

MARDAN/ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) chief, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Wednesday said the 11-party alliance won’t rest before toppling the government.

He said the opposition had been saying that the incumbent government was incompetent, but now the prime minister has justified its stance by himself admitting it. Addressing a huge rally in Mardan at Khaksar Chowk, he maintained that the recent statement of the prime minister about being unprepared to run the government was in fact an admission of failure. “Who asked you to rule?” he sneered.

The Maulana said this government had pushed the country to bankruptcy due to its incompetence. Maryam Nawaz, PPP’s Yousaf Raza Gilani, ANP’s Mian Iftikhar Hussain and Ameer Haider Hoti, Qaumi Watan Party’s Aftab Sherpao and other leaders of the 11-party opposition alliance also spoke on the occasion and pledged to continue their anti-government campaign till its ouster from power.

The rally was termed as an anti-inflation meeting and was the first one to be held in smaller cities after the PDM staged meetings in big cities across the country. The party flags of the bigger parties were displayed all along the route of the rally and at the venue. The leaders were given a warm welcome as they reached the venue.

The rally was held despite a ban imposed by the district administration due to fears that it could further spread coronavirus. The deputy commissioner had warned that action will be taken against those who organised the rally in violation of the ban.

Maulana Fazlur Rehman said the annual growth of the economy fell to zero from 5 percent. “The purchasing power of the people has eroded. The country has registered an unprecedented hike in the prices of the daily use items,” he added.

The Maulana said the rulers were clueless how to revive the economy and were thus talking about eggs, buffaloes and honey. Terming the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) a tool for political victimisation of opponents, the JUI-F chief said that even the Supreme Court had remarked that the anti-graft watchdog was victimising the opposition lawmakers only. “The NAB has become a puppet in the hands of the establishment and has lost its credibility,” he maintained, adding that NAB would not make him accountable, and rather it would be the other way round.

He argued that Prime Minister Imran Khan was now in the grip of accountability and would have to face the music. He claimed the PTI government had caused immense damage to the country and had undermined its defence too. “When a country became financially weak its defence was also compromised. Afghanistan, Iran, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal were moving ahead while Pakistan had lagged far behind in the race of development and prosperity due to the incompetence of the rulers,” he argued.

“The country will face huge loss if this government stays in power any longer,” he predicted. He said Pakistan stood isolated at the international level owing to the flawed foreign policy of the PTI government. He believed that relations with Saudi Arabia were strained.

The Maulana said ‘the sea of people’ would march towards Islamabad to send the government packing. Addressing the gathering, the PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz said the prime minister was imposed on the nation despite being unprepared to run the country. She remarked that Imran Khan was unprepared to govern the country but was prepared to be obedient and people are prepared to oust him. Ridiculing Imran Khan for his recent statement, she said the prime minister was not prepared to ensure good governance, but was prepared for the sugar, wheat flour and petrol crisis.

The PML-N leader said that the premier did not know how to provide medical facilities to the people, but he knew how to raise the prices of the medicines by 500 percent. She said Imran Khan had no idea how to create the 10 million jobs but he knew well how to give jobs to his friends. She asked when the PM was unprepared then why he was in a hurry to wear Sherwani.

Continuing her tirade against the PTI government, she said that the prime minister was not prepared to provide justice to the people, but he knew how to file a reference against Justice Qazi Faez Isa. She said that Imran Khan sent the daughters and sisters of the politicians from the opposition parties to jail, but gave National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) to his sister Aleema Khan.

She added that the premier wasn’t ready to work on the foreign policy, but was willing to surrender Kashmir to India. She criticised the prime minister for regularising his Banigala residence by paying Rs1.2 million fine only.

Maryam Nawaz briefly spoke in Pashto as she drew cheers from the Pashto-speaking crowd. "The man is considered faithful despite being a thief because the man is taabedaar (extremely servile)," she remarked in Pashto and then in Urdu.

She was referring to Prime Minister Imran Khan, whom she first began referring to as Taabedaar Khan earlier this month during a social media workers’ convention in Lahore.