Daily Times

There is no doubt at the moment that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is the most popular party right now, and Imran Khan is the most popular leader. We witnessed this in the general elections, where Imran Khan and his party defeated the PML-N and PPP without even having a party symbol. However, it should also not be forgotten that our army is the protector of Pakistan’s borders.

We exist because of the army, and if the army is weak, the country is weak. This is because we live in a region where we are surrounded by enemies on all sides. Take India, for example, our perpetual enemy, which has allocated $75 billion for its defense budget, whereas Pakistan’s defense budget is around $7 billion. Despite limited resources, the Pakistan Army is facing a much larger enemy. Even with these limited resources, India is afraid of Pakistan’s army and is continually increasing its budget.

If India has allocated $75 billion in its budget, it indicates that India is preparing to confront Pakistan’s army. Therefore, we should also support our army in this regard, providing both budgetary and moral support so that our army feels that the nation backs it. No army can succeed without public support.

No army can succeed without public support.

On the other hand, Imran Khan recently mentioned to journalists in jail that the current government, led by Shehbaz Sharif, wants to manipulate the army against the most popular party in Pakistan for their own gain and is playing a double game to achieve this. Apparently, this seems to be the case, as PML-N knows that if Imran Khan is released from prison, it will be difficult for them to govern.

Since Imran Khan is the leader of the most popular party, if misunderstandings between him and the army are resolved, it will mark the end for these unpopular and unsuccessful rulers. The current rulers are trying to impose a ban on PTI and eliminate it as a party, but this does not seem likely. The rulers do not have the support of the army for this, and bans are not a solution to any problem. It’s like an ostrich burying its head in the sand to avoid a storm. The government is trying to hide its failures by imposing a ban on PTI, but this also seems unlikely to succeed.

Since PTI has become the most popular party and represents the people, millions of Pakistanis have voted it into power. On the other hand, the current rulers seem incapable of governing, as the crisis of electricity bills threatens to sweep away this government. People are now being forced to kill each other over electricity bills, which is due to the current government’s flawed policies that have led brothers to turn against each other.

Gohar Ejaz has revealed the details of capacity charges to the IPPs, and now people know who is looting the country and who is its well-wisher. According to Gohar Ejaz, billions have been paid to the Prime Minister’s own son, Salman Shehbaz, but no electricity has been supplied to the public from his power plant in Chiniot, yet Salman Shehbaz’s company has received billions in this regard.

According to Gohar Ejaz, Chiniot Power Limited is owned by the current Prime Minister’s son, Salman Shehbaz, and has been paid over 630 million rupees in capacity charges within three months.

It was during Imran Khan’s government that some power plants’ agreements were renewed, fixing the payments at 148 rupees per dollar, which was the rate at that time. Had Imran Khan not done this, today’s payments would have been based on the current dollar rate, costing billions more.

People also know who made these agreements with the IPPs. I have repeatedly mentioned in my columns that the current rulers are a corrupt group that does not have the country’s best interests at heart. If they remain in power for a while longer, it might lead to civil war.

As mentioned before, people are now looking to the army to take action and steer the country out of this crisis because the current rulers are unable to solve the issues. Moreover, the misunderstandings between the country’s most popular leadership and the army should be resolved because only they can save the country from its current predicament, and the public trusts them.

The writer is an old Aitchisonian who believes in freedom of expression, a freelance columnist, entrepreneur and social activist.