Looters fled, but I didn’t: PM

BHIMBER/MIRPUR: Prime Minister Imran Khan Sunday said looters have fled the country, but he didn’t when political cases were instituted against him.He asked former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his family members, residing in the United Kingdom, to return home and face trials to prove their honesty as judiciary in the country is fully independent.

“Judiciary in the country is fully independent as Imran Khan did not attack courts or contact judges for seeking favourable judgments. I ask them a question-- why are they sitting outside the country if they are honest and truthful, why they fear facing courts?” the prime minister, said while addressing two separate public gatherings held in connection with Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) upcoming general elections on 25th July.

The prime minister said even Ishaq Dar, former finance minister, his son, Nawaz’s sons, son and son-in-law of Shehbaz Sharif had been absconding in London to avoid accountability. He said due to independent judiciary and accountability process, even the PTI ministers were not spared.

The premier said the courts and National Accountability Bureau (NAB) were free and not under any control. “If these leaders are honest, then why they fear from the justice system,” the prime minister said.

He said Nawaz Sharif performed such an acting never staged in Bollywood. “His acting even moved female members in our cabinet who wept upon his health conditions, but after arriving in London, it was a different Nawaz Sharif,” the prime minister wondered.

“If they did no wrong, then why they have been fleeing?” the prime minister asked the gathering to pose question on polling day to voters of these parties who had plundered the country in the last 30 years. He added that such corrupt leadership left the country because they realised that Imran Khan was not giving them any NRO.

The prime minister said that he did not leave the country when politically-motivated cases against him were taken up by the Supreme Court. He said he faced the trial and submitted each and every evidence because he did not commit any wrong.

Imran Khan observed that almost all the poor countries had rulers like Zardari and Nawaz who had been siphoning off their national wealth and sending it abroad. In those countries, the prime minister maintained, there was rule of power swayed by the corrupt leadership and corrupt members of parliament.

The prime minister further observed that countries did not become poor due to lack of resources but due to lack of rule of law. “When the rulers consider themselves above the law and roam the world with NROs, then the countries are ruined,” he said, adding “To bring the powerful dacoits under the rule of law, is the real fight for Pakistan and Kashmir.”

“We have to enforce rule of law and rid the poor from the clutches of injustices,” he said.

The prime minister asked the people to differentiate between the honest and truthful leadership and the others on July 25. He said that he was very concerned about the future of the young generations of the country and wanted the country to become the great one in the world.

He said the Holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) had lifted the poor and helpless Arabs who had been lying low, with no respect in the world, to rise and lead the world in the presence of two powerful empires of that time. The prime minister said by following the Holy Prophet’s Sunnah, they would achieve success and become a great nation.

The prime minister further said that Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah was an honest and upright leader whose qualities were acknowledged even by his political adversaries. He stressed upon the people that they had to change themselves and the country to become a great nation by becoming truthful and honest. He said there should be no two set of laws for the poor and the powerful NRO mafia.

The prime minister said they were waging a jihad against injustices and fighting for the rule of law.

“Old system mafias are trying to save their skins and on daily basis, we are fighting them,” he said, assuring people about his capability to face these mafias as a captain with their support.

The prime minister said corrupt leadership led a political party to rot.

He regretted that the two parties (PPP, PMLN) had been squeezing the country for three decades and promoted a culture of graft at the lower tiers as well. The prime minister advised the people to shun their personal interests and think of the country while casting their votes in the upcoming general elections of AJK.

The prime minister also stressed upon the people to wear masks as the coronavirus pandemic still persisted in the country. By wearing mask and observing standard operating procedures, they could contain its spread, he said, adding that in India, millions died due to the lethal virus with huge financial impacts that pushed millions of people below poverty line.