Addressing the public gathering in Haripur Imran Khan said that he would not have engaged in America’s war on terror if he was in power at the time. “I would not have succumbed to the US pressure had I been the Prime Minister of Pakistan at the time of 9/11”, Imran Khan said while emphasizing that a country’s foreign policy should look after the interest of its people.
PTI Chairman said that he is standing for the rights of Pakistan’s people, and the top agenda in his struggle for ‘Haqeeqi Azaadi’ (True Freedom) is to attain an independent foreign policy. “The purpose of foreign policy is to safeguard the interests of a nation”.
“I went to Russia with the goal to procure petroleum products at cheaper rates, so that we could reduce prices of petrol and diesel in our country”, Imran Khan said. “As a result our government was toppled and this imported government was imposed on us”, he added.
In his address, Former Prime Minister Imran Khan mocked his political rivals; Maulana Fazlur-Rehman, Asif Ali Zardari and Shehbaz Sharif for looting public wealth. “Two primary objectives of our struggle for true freedom are; taking charge of our decisions and foreign policy, and ridding the country of these thieves”, Khan said while laying out his agenda.
Read More: LHC proceeds on case against the ban on Imran Khan’s live speeches
“A leader of our party gave up his position of assistant professor in the US and decided to return to Pakistan to serve his country, he joined PTI in our dream of a Naya Pakistan. He made a statement on television which was perceived anti-state, however, instead of following due and proper procedure he was kidnapped and kept at an undisclosed location for two days.” Imran Khan said while defending Shahbaz Gill. “In an even disgraceful act, he was stripped naked and tortured”, he added.
Imran Khan went on to say that for just a sentence Shahbaz Gill uttered on television, he was stripped naked, tortured, humiliated and even subjected to sexual violence. “On being presented before a magistrate, despite proven torture, Shahbaz Gill was handed over back to the police” Imran Khan said adding that just for criticizing this decision of the magistrate he was charged with terrorism.
Read More: Watch: Shahbaz Gill raises voice for Jameel Farooqui while going to jail
“I had said that we will not spare those policemen involved in these gruesome acts, secondly I said that we will take legal action” Imran Khan said while repeating his statement for which he has been charged with terrorism. He further said that booking him for terrorism didn’t hurt him as much as it hurt the country, as the news was reported across the international media, projecting a negative image of Pakistan.
“After all their efforts so far have failed, they have decided to technically knock out Imran Khan, they want to disqualify me or trap me in a terrorism or contempt case”, Imran Khan went on to say.
Read More: Islamabad Police registers another case against Imran Khan, party leaders
Imran Khan said that he was removed from power using the pretext of inflation “we left inflation at 16%, and today it has reached 42%, during our government per unit bill of electricity was 16 rupees, today it has reached 38 rupees”. “Inflation has skyrocketed, exports are declining, foreign remittances are decreasing, farmers are unable to pay electricity bill for tube wells and production is declining”, he said while outlining the economic woes faced by the country today.
In his address Imran Khan instructed Chief Ministers of Punjab and KP to provide relief to the floods stricken people of the country and criticized the Sindh government and Shehbaz Sharif for their inaction.
Imran Khan also paid tribute to the social media activists of his party and instructed them to engage only in constructive criticism of the institutions for their betterment. “We have to live and die in this country, we don’t want to harm any institution”.
Read More: Imran Khan invites passionate youth to become ‘Imran Tigers’
“Our goal is to get rid of this imported government and hold free and fair elections in the country”, Imran Khan said. “Political stability can only result from a free and fair election and political stability will in turn lead to economic stability of the country”.
Lastly, Imran Khan once again gave an ultimatum to the government to announce election before it’s too late. Imran Khan urged the people to stay ready for the final march on Islamabad and warned his political opponents that no one will be able to stop his march this time.