Declare assets or face civil disobedience, Imran tells politicians

LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Sunday demanded of the government to make all parliamentarians and politicians declare their assets within the next couple of months, otherwise his party would launch a civil disobedience movement and block all major cities with the support of the public.

While addressing a mammoth gathering at the Minar-e-Pakistan grounds, he also spelled out his agenda for bringing about a socio-economic change in the

country. “(The) PTI is setting up a special cell to compile data about the assets of all parliamentarians and politicians, and it will finish its job in a few months.

“I warn Zardari against lamenting that democracy is in danger, as he himself has endangered democracy,” he said. Political observers termed his rally as “one of the biggest” at the historic venue as far as the number of participants andtheir commitment to the leadership were concerned. Analysts say the highly charged crowd at the PTI public meeting comprised mostly the non-political silent majority, which aspires for change in the present oppressive system. The rally participants, enthusiastically raising slogans during Imran Khan’s speech, mainly consisted of youth, besides a large number of women and children from all walks of life, who had almost packed the vast grounds of Iqbal Park, commonly known as the Minar-e-Pakistan.

The gathering was also addressed by former governor Punjab Mian Azhar, PTI General Secretary Arif Alvi, Punjab President Ahsan Rasheed, General Secretary Dr Yasmin Rashed, Qasim Suri from Balochistan, Umar Sarfraz Cheema, Saloni Bukhari, Farrukh Habib and others. It turned out to be an entertaining gathering with the performances of pop singers Shahzad Roy, Strings, and Shah Zaman, who enthralled the participants.

On the issue of terrorism, Imran warned that the corrupt Pakistani rulers, both incumbent and former, had brought the US war into the country for the sake of getting dollars. It intensified terrorism instead of controlling it, Imran added. He demanded an end to the US war in Pakistan, halting all military operations and making a policy that the Pakistan Army would never be used against its own people in future. He said after coming into power, he would bring those rulers to justice who had pushed Pakistan into the US war and caused the massacre of over 35,000 Pakistani men, women and children, and disabled thousands others and burdened the national economy with billions of dollars in deficit.

On foreign policy, Imran said he would make friends with all countries including the US, but would not accept slavery of any country. He said his party would offer Washington help to get out of Afghanistan. He said his party would strengthen friendship with China and enter into vast mutual cooperation in different fields. He disclosed that he would leave for Beijing late on Sunday night to meet the Chinese leadership, on the invitation of the Chinese government.

On the Kashmir issue, he asked India to withdraw its 700,000 army men from Kashmir and give the people their right to self-determination. He reminded New Delhi that no power could ever control people through an army. He asked if the US army had been able to control Afghans in 10 years, adding that only if the Indian army was stronger than the US army would it be able to control Kashmiris through the use of force.

Condemning Pakistan’s rulers for begging from the world to cover up their corruption, Imran said that was the reason that the country’s honour had been lost in the eyes of the comity of nations. He said even “Aunt Clinton” snubs us every other day when we beg for money during her visits to Pakistan. But, he regretted, the politicians always line up to welcome her like beggars.

He addressed the Baloch people saying that they had suffered the worst kind of atrocities in the past. But the time of their trial would end soon, as his party would stop the military operation in the province and take the Baloch along at every level. He said he would soon contact Baloch leaders, especially Nawab Akhtar Mengal to ensure that complete justice was done to the Baloch in the future.

Imran said before launching the civil disobedience movement, he would also opt for other options; he would go to the Supreme Court to seek declaration of assets and liberation of the election commission of Pakistan from political and official control. Declaring corruption as the biggest problem of Pakistan, Imran Khan said he would abolish the institution of Patwaris altogether by computerising the entire land record after coming into power, as Patwaris act as the front men for the feudal lords and the higher government authorities.

Besides, he added, he would change the “thana culture” by depoliticising the police and electing the thanedars (station house officers or SHOs) from the local populace by the locals themselves. He lamented that justice was not provided but sold in Pakistani courts, and the poor masses were the worst-hit due to their inaccessibility to justice. He said he would fight corruption and make the wealthy pay their taxes.

Imran reminded the masses that Pakistan is a wealthy country and not a poor one, as declared by the corrupt rulers. He said Pakistan had a huge wealth of coal reserves of over 180 million tons, which is enough to provide electric power to the entire world. Similarly, Balochistan had copper reserves worth more than 260 billion dollars, and another gas reserve at Zam had been discovered, which is bigger than that of Sui.

Terming power loadshedding a consequence of the corruption and inefficiency of the rulers, he said the existing power plants could easily generate about 60,000MW electricity, but it was not being done, as the rulers were running the plants at 25 per cent of their capacity. He said the PTI would immediately run them at 70 per cent capacity, which would end loadshedding immediately.

The coal reserves could make Pakistan more energy rich than various countries of the world including Saudi Arabia, Iran and Iraq. The people of the world would then come to our country to seek jobs here, provided we get rid of the corrupt rulers.

Imran Khan said it was a very welcome sign that the people of Lahore had finally woken up and stood up for a change. He expressed his personal complaint against Lahoris that they take too much time to wake up. However, he added, when Lahoris wake up, nobody can beat them.

Imran Khan, predicting a ‘breakthrough’ for the country very soon, stated that the ‘Zardari-Nawaz partnership’ would soon be clean bowled by an ‘in-swinger’ of the PTI.

Lauding the mammoth crowd, he said the rulers of Islamabad and Raiwind should keep in mind that a ‘tsunami’ of people would wipe out everyone who comes in its way.

Coming down hard on President Zardari, he said he brought a bad name to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who was a true nationalist. He said Zardari forced over 16,000 people to commit suicide, as he had snatched Roti, Kapra Aur Makan from them, which ZA Bhutto had promised.

“What can Zardari do? He comes to visit Pakistan occasionally. What can he give to the people of this country except for pushing them to suicides?” added Imran. He also said the entire debt of the country, which stood at $60bn, could be paid off easily if the wealth of Pakistanis amounting to over $100bn, deposited in Swiss banks, was brought back.

He said three thousand billion rupees were being embezzled every year in Pakistan due to corruption, but the rulers were running after only one thing: to garner US sympathy, for the sake of dollars.

Imran Khan, urging the Sharif brothers not to waste the state resources, said the crowd participating in their rally was brought there with the help of Patwaris. He said Nawaz Sharif had the habit of playing with supportive umpires, but this would not help him any more.

He also asked Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif how he would fight against a crocodile like Zardari when he could not even manage to control a mosquito.

He said if policing becomes proper and effective in Karachi, peace would be restored in the city. But it could not be done because the activists of political parties were being recruited to maintain law and order.

Imran promised that the PTI would ensure rights to labourers, peasants and all poor workers, even domestic servants. He said women, who were normally deprived of their share in the property illegally, would be protected under the law.



PTI ‘tracing foreign assets’

News Desk

LAHORE: PTI chief Imran Khan said early on Monday his party had developed a cell that was tracing the foreign assets of politicians, adding that he saw elections after March next year, reports Geo News. Talking to reporters before leaving for China, he said he was ready to consider an alliance with PML-N if Nawaz Sharif declared his real foreign assets. He said China had pulled 400 million of its people out of poverty.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=9966&Cat=13&dt=10/31/2011

Posted in: Imran Khan