Addressing the public gathering in Sargodha on Thursday, PTI Chairman Imran Khan pledged that he will work relentlessly to provide relief to the people affected by the unprecedented floods.
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Furthermore, he said that he will announce schemes to mobilize the overseas Pakistanis to rid Pakistan of the foreign loans which forces Pakistan for the “slavery” of IMF. “I believe that the overseas Pakistanis will help us repay our loans”, Imran Khan said while placing the blame for the burden of foreign loans of Pakistan on the PDM.
“Remember, we cannot become a great country unless we establish the rule of law”, Imran Khan said. He noted that the reason behind the backwardness of our country is the tyrannical and unjust system, where a minor thieve is punished but major thieves are rewarded.
“I was the only leader who was imprisoned for campaigning for a free judiciary” Imran Khan recalled his days spent in a DG Khan jail. He said that he didn’t see one prisoner who was wealthy, all prisoners were in jail for petty crimes such as bicycle theft, whereas the major criminals were sitting in the parliament.
Former Prime Minister Imran Khan also lashed out at his political opponents whom he accuses of collaborating with the US to overthrow his government. “These thieves [the PDM government] were imposed on us through a foreign conspiracy to establish a puppet government in Pakistan”, he said. “The conspirators were stunned when public poured out on the streets against the regime change”, he added.
He also recalled the oppressive crackdown of the government on the peaceful ‘Azaadi march’. “They used tear gas against women and children and created an atmosphere of fear by registering FIRs against us”. “They thought their tactics would suppress us, but they were met with another blow in the 17th July by-elections”, he added. The elections had resulted in a landslide victory for PTI.
I want to thank the record crowd in Sargodha today. I am now convinced that whatever fascist tactics this Imported Government tries to oppress and terrorise the people of Pakistan into accepting this government of crooks, it will only fan the flames of revolution. pic.twitter.com/NFDqXvANYq
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) September 1, 2022
Imran Khan said that the government was terrified by the result of the Punjab by-polls as they saw a clear defeat if general elections were held, therefore, “they planned to technically knock me out of elections”.
Imran Khan labelled all the cases against him, including the foreign funding case and Tosha khaana case, as efforts of his political opponent to take technically knock him out. “I challenge that the Tosha khaana case should be heard in an open hearing, along with the similar cases against Zardari, Sharif and Yousaf Raza Gillani”, he said.
Imran Khan also criticized the government for charging him with terrorism, “when I warned of legal action against those who failed to prevent the torture [of Shahbaz Gill], a terrorism case was registered against me, causing humiliation of Pakistani throughout the world”. He said the objective of the government behind all these cases is to get him disqualified.
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Imran Khan played clips of Salman Shahbaz and Maryam Nawaz in which they denied ownership of any properties in Mayfair and then played a clip of Hussain Nawaz in which he clearly admitted that the owner of the Mayfair apartments is Maryam Nawaz. Imran Khan said that the Sharif family purchased these properties with the wealth looted from Pakistan. “While theft hurts a household, corruption hurts the whole nation, that is why I am fighting against corruption”, Imran Khan said while addressing the public gathering. He urged the nation to stand by him in the struggle for ‘Haqeeqi Azaadi’ (true freedom).
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“In the last year of our government, the economic growth of Pakistan stood at 6 percent, the best economic performance in 17 years despite corona pandemic, our exports were at a record level, remittances by overseas Pakistanis were record-high, tax collection was record-high and agricultural output was also record-high” Imran Khan pointed out while quoting the Pakistan Economic Survey for FY2021-22 that was published by the incumbent government. “When we left the government inflation stood at 17-18 percent, today it has crossed 45 percent”, he added.
“Being a Pakistani I ask who is responsible for derailing Pakistan from the path of growth”, Imran Khan questioned the ‘conspirators’ who overthrew his government. “The country is now on the path to destruction; economy is collapsing, factories are shutting down, exports are decreasing, remittances from overseas Pakistanis are declining. I ask the decision-makers, are you not worried about Pakistan”, Imran Khan apparently questioned the establishment. “There is only one way to get Pakistan out of this quagmire and that is free and fair elections”, he presented a way-out from the political and economic crisis for Pakistan.
Imran Khan said that he is being cornered by the cases of terrorism, false FIRs, torture of his workers including the opposition leader of Sindh Assembly Haleem Adil Sheikh and Shahbaz Gill. He also lashed out at the government for crackdown on media and journalists including Arshad Sharif, Sabir Shakir, Imran Riaz Khan, Jameel Farooqui and senior journalists such as Ayaz Amir and Sami Ibrahim. He said that the reason behind this crackdown is to suppress my voice.
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Imran Khan told his opponents that whatever tactics they may adopt; they cannot win the ‘match’ now. “The more you suppress my party, the more it will rise”, he said. “Since you have lost the match, you are just hurting the country now [by stalling the political process], think of the nation before your personal interest”, he urged the establishment.
Concluding his address, Imran Khan said “the future of the nation lies in free and fair election so that the people can elect their leader for themselves”, adding that the more he is cornered the stronger will be his resolve to fight. “Don’t force me to disclose the names of the people who put the country in this difficulty for their personal interests”. He said that the nation is standing with him and he has the power to shutdown Islamabad, but he has been restraining for four months for the sake of the country.
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