Daily Times

LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan, announcing not to hold more rallies like the Raiwind march, has vowed to shut Islamabad down after the holy month of Muharram in case Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif did not present himself for accountability in the Panamagate.

Addressing a mammoth gathering at Adda Plot near the Sharifs’ residence in Jati Umra on Friday, Imran dubbed the sitting rulers “corrupt” and said Pakistan could not survive and develop without eradicating them and the corrupt system.

He said that if the institutions concerned did not take action against Nawaz Sharif, the PTI would not give a way to run the government after Muharram.

Giving details of the “misuse” of taxpayers’ money, the PTI chairman said that Rs 8 billion had been spent on the security of the Sharifs, while Rs 600 million were used to construct the walls of the “Raiwind palace”.

He said that the rulers spent the national exchequer to develop infrastructure in the area instead of spending such an amount on the education and health sectors.

“Exposing” the contradictory statements made by Nawaz Sharif and his family members with regard to their property and sources of income, Imran played some footage related to the London flats and offshore companies owned by the Sharif family and ministers like Khawaja Asif and Chaudhry Nisar.

Calling the rulers “pharaohs” of the present day, he said that like those rulers in the past, Nawaz Sharif’s time had also come, as Panama was not an “allegation” but “evidence”.

He said that documents proved that Maryam Nawaz owned two offshore companies despite the fact that she had shown herself as a dependent of her father.

He said that Nawaz Sharif violated four laws by indulging in concealment of assets, corruption, tax evasion and money laundering, as he had not declared those offshore companies and “ill-gotten” money of his family members in his details of assets.

Claiming that he was not exposing the corrupt system and rulers for the sake of becoming a prime minister, Imran said he only came in politics to challenge the ‘oppressors’.

He alleged that the Sharifs had captured or occupied every important public institute by deputing their blue-eyed followers, like Sheikh Saeed, who was the frontman of the Sharif family and laundered money for them.

The PTI chief said that all problems confronting the country could be solved only if institutions like the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) were strengthened; just like the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government was doing in the province.

He also criticised the Sharifs for giving advertisements in the print and electronic media worth billions of rupees for the sake of self-projection and to protect themselves.

Commenting on the Pak-India relations and Indian PM Narendra Modi’s threats to Pakistan – in the form of starting ‘surgical strikes’ and water aggression – Imran Khan said he believed in peace and not war.

He told the participants of the Raiwind march that he had himself taken part in a rally in England against US attack on Iraq, and said that military operations was not a solution to the problems.

He said he had met Modi during a visit to India and conveyed his feelings that peace should be maintained between the two countries, especially on the borders.

He also brushed aside Indian allegations that Pakistan was backing the so-called insurgency in Indian-held Kashmir (IHK), and said that Kashmiris had been struggling and fighting for their right to self-determination for the past many decades.

He advised Modi to give Kashmiris their due rights, saying that problems could not be solved through guns. He said that Pakistan would continue its unflinching moral and diplomatic support to Kashmiris.