People prefer to drown with me rather than back three stooges, says PM Imran Khan

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday said people have seen through the three stooges [Asif Zardari, Nawaz Sharif and Maulana Fazlur Rehman] and that if they are to rescue Pakistan, then it would be better for them to drown with Imran Khan.

He was addressing the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Overseas Convention here. The prime minister said that "today I would like to thank the opposition parties from the core of my heart, therefore, I would like to thank them for making people forget the prices of tomatoes and onions."

The premier asserted that he had bee waiting for this time for long and now the opposition had provided him this opportunity by moving a no-trust motion against him. “Now, they have fallen into the captain’s trap and not only their no-trust would fail, they would also fail in 2023 general election,” he contended.

He emphasised that the PMLN had called Asif Zardari the most corrupt person of Pakistan for 20 years and Maulana Fazlur Rehman was also named ‘diesel’ by N-League. He continued now Zardari, Nawaz Sharif and Maulana Fazl have joined hands, saying they have set out to rescue Pakistan but people have fully understoodthem that if they are to save Pakistan, then it is better for them to drown with Imran Khan.

At the outset of his speech, the prime minister expressed his gratitude to the opposition and said they had made people forget the prices of tomatoes and onions while there was a sea of inflation at the global level and he and his team kept thinking all the time how to save people from price hike, effects of inflation and facilitate them.

Imran challenged the media, economists and opposition parties to discuss the government's performance. He said: “I told my people that they [opposition] have done me such a favour that I will not call them bad. And all are turning to Islamabad on the 27th. So let me thank them, as people saw these three stooges aside. I was wondering what happened in 10 days, how the country suddenly changed and my party rose. The whole country has forgotten about inflation and everything,” he noted.

He said that Zardari had told the PPP that there was no corrupt person more than Nawaz Sharif. He made a case against Hudaibiya Paper Mills that they would send money abroad through money laundering and then bring it back by making fake accounts. He said that this case was made by Zardari on Sharifs, Fazlur Rehman was named diesel by PMLN, a ‘painter’ of PMLN had named Fazlur Rehman as ‘diesel’, we did not name him.

The PM said that Fazlur Rehman's party thinks that PPP and PMLN are thieves, PMLN thinks that PPP is thief and Fazlur Rehman is diesel, PPP considers Nawaz Sharif as thief. “When these three are together, I want to thank them because the whole nation has seen that if they want to save the country, it is better to drown with Imran Khan,” he said.

The prime minister said that “I offered two Nawafil on that day and thanked Allah, because when the PTI government came, l was fed up in three and a half years that yesterday the government was gone, the day after yesterday the government was gone, today it is gone, it is incompetent, it is selected. So what the three of them have done together is now in the middle of the captain's gun seat’.

He said that Nawaz Sharif became the chief minister and minister by putting iron bars on the roofs of General Jillani and then they came up what hard work had they done. They were rather picked up and installed. He said Maulana Fazlur Rehman has been selling religion for 30 years, what work has he done?

The premier said but the nation knew it very well how Nawaz Sharif was pampered by former General Jillani, while Shehbaz Sharif delivered fruits baskets and Zardari assumed leadership of the party by selling tickets.

He said Fazlur Rehman as ‘diesel’ because of minting money through the sale of diesel permits. The prime minister, in a veiled reference to the Obama-Sharif meeting, said former prime minister Nawaz Sharif kept on trembling with fears that his words might not turn the US president angry.

Such leadership could sell out Pakistan for the sake of their corruption and petty interests, he said and referred to an Indian journalist Barkha Dutt’s book that claimed that Nawaz Sharif held a secret meeting with Indian Prime Minister Modi.

About the Memogate scandal, he said Pakistan’s former ambassador to the US Husain Haqqani was tasked to convey a message to Washington to save Zardari from the army. Similarly, the objective of the ‘DawnLeaks’ was a futile attempt by Nawaz Sharif to blame the armed forces of Pakistan.

Modi had been falsely blaming former army chief general Raheel Sharif whereas Nawaz Sharif was inviting him to marriage ceremonies. The prime minister expressed that the armed forces of Pakistan were fully capable of defending the country.

He said that you (audience) have just seen the whole movie on PTI, a party has come from the grassroots, campaigned with a few people, went to the people, worked hard and got into trouble and this is not our competition.

He said that one thing people should understand is that people are in a difficult time, in the midst of global inflation but it has been misunderstood by them. People are in trouble and people have forgotten the corruption of these three faces and have fallen into the same misunderstanding.

The PM noted that since “I have also been an overseas Pakistani for 20 years, my cricket and then because of Shaukat Khanum, I have been in touch with most of the overseas Pakistanis. I know their problems, I know their support, I know that when a Pakistani goes abroad, he remembers his country, then he knows the true meaning of his country. What a great gift from Allah Almighty’.

The premier continued that then it hurts from within, why our country does not go up, the world is going up but why our country is left behind, so it hurts.

The PM said that when he sees leaders stealing money and building big palaces in London, it hurts him. He said that when they see Mayfair flats, the most expensive area of London, they live in big palaces, they drive big cars, they gather in casinos for gambling at night, it hurts.

He said that they work hard, they steal their country's money and take it abroad, our Pakistanis abroad earn money from abroad and send money to Pakistan and we have had record remittances and our country is running on it.

The prime minister said that they should work hard to bring money to Pakistan and they take it out of here by stealing and money laundering and if they and their children indulge in luxury there then they are in trouble.

He said that today all the money and offshore accounts of Russia's big business people, called oligarchs, are being confiscated because they are angry with Russia and therefore confiscated all their assets and property.

He said that you would only say that no law of the world allows anyone to be a judge, jury and executioner, it is against every law of the world. The prime minister said that our terrorist is sitting on a London road. If we kill him by drone strike, they will allow it, because there is law in that country.

The prime minister said, “let me make it clear to the transatlantic Pakistanis that I have never been anti-American or anti-British and I am not anti-India. He is an ignorant man who goes against the whole country, he is a foolish man because different people live in one country. How can you be against a country, you can be against their policies, I was against America’s war on terror and I will always be against it”.

PM Imran Khan said that he had taken part in a demonstration in London against the war in Iraq: How can you say in Britain I am against Britain, because a large majority of them opposed it.”

He said that today there is Hindutva philosophy within India that India is only for Hindus, the rest of the people especially Muslims and Christians are not equal citizens. “I know India very well, very well-educated people oppose it and think that Modi's policy is leading India to a catastrophe,” he said.

He said that if the steps taken in Kashmir on August 5, 2019 were taken back, we could normalize relations with them and resolve issues through dialogue. I have a lot of differences with Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto because he did a lot of wrong things but today I would say that he was an independent leader, he stood up for the honour of Pakistan and called the Islamic Conference. He was not a slave to anyone, so people were proud of him.

The prime minister said, “We have given you (overseas Pakistanis) the right to vote and I would say that they should also contest elections because the country is running on their remittances. If people want to vote for them, then vote.

He said that now I want overseas Pakistanis to invest in the country now, if they invest in the industry together with Pakistanis then they will get tax exemption for 5 years. “I have told my missions and ambassadors that your biggest task will be to make life easier for our Pakistanis abroad.

The PM said, “I am standing here today and challenging what we have done for Pakistan in three and a half years under difficult circumstances. I challenge any government in the history of Pakistan to do so in three and a half years. No country can develop when exports do not increase. Our exports have not increased in the last ten years while all of us have gone ahead.”

He said that now Pakistan has achieved record exports and the figures that are coming now have exceeded our expectations. The prime minister said that remittances were recorded, the highest tax collection in the history of Pakistan.

He said that today I challenge the entire opposition to compete with us in anything. We are ahead of you in everything. “I challenge our media people, economists and all parties to ever have a debate with us. We will prove to you that we have improved Pakistan in three and a half years as no one in history has done,” he noted.

PM Imran said that Rehmatul-lil-Alameen Authority has been set up to educate children, people should know why the country was created, what was the biography (Seerat) of the Holy Prophet (PBUH), how the Prophet (PBUH) of Islam changed the character of the people and Pakistan was created for that.

He said that Maulana Fazlur Rehman has been selling Islam for 30 years and in my three and a half years today, Russian President Putin said that under the guise of freedom of expression, no one cannot insult the glory of the Prophet (PBUH).

The PM said that the Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau has stated that you cannot insult the dignity of the Prophet (PBUH) in the name of freedom of expression, this is the first time. He said that has Maulana Fazlur Rehman been able to ask even a peon what to talk of a head of the state about this and the reason is obvious.