Daily Times

Prime Minister Imran Khan Sunday said any NRO to the opposition leaders for their corruption cases will ease out his life but it would be disastrous for the country.

“Any NRO will make my life far easier but it will be disastrous for the country. During last 10 years, they had given NROs to each other and consequently the country’s debt swelled fourfold. Then no one was questioning anyone. There was same NAB (National Accountability Bureau) which was disturbing none at that time,” the prime minister said in a conversation with the digital media publishers and broadcasters.

During an hour-long interaction with audience comprising journalists, social activists, YouTubers and educationists with huge following on social media, Imran Khan recalled that both the NROs were given by Pervez Musharraf, which had damaged the country to a great extent. They overburdened the country under debts that half of the revenue today goes to debt payment leaving the government with short of resources to spend for public welfare, he lamented.

During the meeting, the prime minister talked about several issues, including the opposition and performance of the previous governments. He also listened to the comments of the influencers and answered several questions.

He said any NRO undermines the nation’s moral standards which the opposition leaders had unfortunately done, with even the media showing leniency towards their corruption of multimillion rupees, ignoring its real role of a watchdog. He said no one in any civilized country could ever think of its prime minister or foreign minister doing job in a Dubai firm just to launder the money abroad.

The prime minister said the moral downfall precedes the economic downfall of any nation. “Some third world nations with plenty of natural resources were poor just because their leaders were involved in corruption. It takes long and requires tough decisions to challenge the status quo,” he said and exemplified China which jailed its over 400 ministerial level people for their corruption and thus elevated the nation out of poverty. “The opposition alliance (PDM) has come together not for the sake of national interest but to serve their personal agenda,” the PM said. “I reiterate … I will never give them the NRO.”

Imran Khan viewed the least corrupt governments were the most prosperous. He said in order to change the society and mindset, the nation would have to consider the corruption as an evil, otherwise it could not be eliminated just through law enforcement.

Calling it a ‘classic case’, the prime minister referred to a question by a news anchor as to why Khawaja Asif was jailed for corruption of ‘just’ Rs 220 million. It reflects the downing of a nation’s morality, he added. The prime minister said that Balochistan was “never given importance by the past governments because the entire province’s vote bank is equal to that of Faisalabad”. “Our federal governments did not pay attention to Balochistan because the total vote bank of the province is equal to that of Faisalabad division,” he said. “Whichever government came into power, tribal leaders formed an alliance with them.” The prime minister said that his government, however, is paying “full attention to the socio-economic development of Balochistan”.

He said the development funds allocated to Balochistan directly went to the tribal leaders, who continued to accumulate wealth and power but the masses remained poor and deprived. “The PTI-led government is the first one in history which is working towards the socio-economic development of Balochistan and paying full attention to it,” PM Imran Khan claimed. “We are employing efforts to develop South Balochistan through different packages, but we are still short of funds.”

Answering a question about the unrest in Balochistan and a certain narrative that people have developed about the province, Imran Khan said that the PTI-led government will do whatever it can to improve the situation there. “The sectarianism and the targeted killing of Hazaras started in the 1980s with the arrival of the Afghan Jihad. This was the time when we saw the rise of militant sectarianism for the first time,” he said.

He added it was unfortunate that many militant groups formed when the United States left Afghanistan in 1989 and they wreaked havoc in Pakistan, particularly targeting the Hazara Shia community. “Our security agencies opine that the recent killings of the Hazara community in Balochistan, which is claimed by ISIS, is backed by India,” he maintained. “It is India’s stated aim to spread terrorism in Pakistan, especially through sectarianism.” He said that despite having the knowledge about India’s plan and the diligent work of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), the terrorists targeted a remote location in Balochistan.