Daily Times

toipf60o_imran-khan-file-photo_625x300_12_March_22Prime Minister Imran Khan has asked the estranged PTI MNAs to return to the party fold and promised he will forgive them like a father. Addressing a huge public gathering in Dargai on Sunday, Imran told the PTI’s dissidents that it was his message to them to come back because as a father he was ready to forgive them. “Humans can commit blunders. For the sake of your children’s future do not commit this mistake,” he added, reports APP.

The prime minister said what message would be passed to the society when elected representatives took bribes!

The prime minister said he was talking for the betterment of those legislators because days of Changa Manga politics had been over when the members of parliament were treated like herds. “It is the country where people have awareness and they are aware of everything. They know it very well that you people have taken bribes to switch loyalties. The public does not believe in your words,” he added.

The prime minister further reminded the estranged PTI’s members of parliament that it would be difficult for them to live in a society with such a stigma. People would not marry their scions and their children would face difficulties. The public would not forget them, he added.

The prime minister said often a decisive phase arrived in a nation’s history, requiring it to take a definite stance.

Today, he said, on the one hand, big dacoits of Pakistan had gathered to save their looted wealth, on the other hand, there were people who had been striving for decades against their corruption. The prime minister said the decisive phase had now arrived for the nation to take a definite course. The prime minister announced that the three stooges (leaders of three opposition parties) were going to lose the match miserably.

Referring to opposition parties, the prime minister said that they had been offering bribes to the lawmakers to switch loyalty and party affiliations with their ill-gotten wealth.

He said those legislators who had been elected to safeguard public interests had sold out their conscience for wealth. They not only sold out their country and nation but also their religious faith. There was not a single religion in the world that allowed such shabby acts, he added. The prime minister said the judiciary, Election Commission of Pakistan, and the nation, especially the youth were observing the situation.

He said it was an era of social media and the young people had more awareness, knowledge and information available on social media tools.

“It is being called a democracy,” the prime minister sarcastically alluded to the statements of the opposition parties. In Sindh House, bags of money were distributed among the members of the parliament, he said, likening it to a ‘funeral of democracy’. The prime minister said it was an obligation for the nation to stand up and raise its voice against such tactics.

The prime minister further said that during their rule, both PML-N and PPP had framed corruption cases against each other. PML-N put Zardari into jail twice due to his involvement in corruption cases and fake accounts and the PPP had framed graft cases against PML-N.

Fazlur Rehman was named as diesel by PML-N due to his involvement in sale of permits during the PPP government, while his NAB corruption case was filed during the PML-N govt, he added. The prime minister asked a question as to how could they now sit together after accusing each other of such huge corruption of the past. What answers, these three stooges would give to the young generations! the prime minister expressed his wonder.

The prime minister said by employing these tactics, the opposition leaders were causing such a huge damage to the motherland and eroding the moral values of the society that only an enemy could do. He opined that wars had not effaced societies, but the erosion of moral values led to their destruction and when a society failed to differentiate between the good and the evil.

The prime minister said Jihad against evil was vital for the survival of a society.

The prime minister in a veiled reference to PPP and PML-N leadership said these two families had been plundering the country for the last 35 years.

The prime minister said that he had also strongly rejected a proposal to misuse public exchequer to save his government.

“It is better to lose my government than misusing the public exchequer to save the government and bribe the people. I will damn it,” he declared in an emphatic way.

The prime minister without naming Shahbaz Sharif, said a person donning a hat and suits had criticized him for saying ‘absolutely not’ to the US over drone attacks.

He said that he had strongly objected to the EU ambassadors’ letter over Russian-Ukraine war.

Comparing his firm stance over the country’s sovereignty, with that of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, he said that a criminal and liar sitting in London, had bowed before such pressures as he had fears for his amassed wealth stashed away in the foreign banks.

The prime minister said that he had neither bowed before anyone nor would let the nation do it.

He said in the US-led war, Pakistan had lost 80,000 lives, the tribal areas were devastated as about 3.5 people were displaced and the country’s economy suffered a hefty loss worth billions of dollars.

The prime minister reiterated that Pakistan would be a partner in peace efforts but would not be a partner in war.

Citing Indian foreign policy, he said, on one hand, it was a member of the QUAD and on the other, it was importing oil from Russia despite embargoes.

The previous rulers, he said, had never condemned the drone attacks as they were hypocrites and worshippers of wealth. “They have no guts to stand for the sovereignty of Pakistan,” he added.

The prime minister said a country could not move ahead by remaining a slave to any power. During three and half years of his government, he had strived for the sovereignty of the country, the prime minister said and asked Maulana Fazlur Rehman whether he had ever taken up the issue of Islamophobia.

The two former rulers and thieves did not utter a single word about Islam at the UN as they feared certain countries, he added.

The prime minister observed that media had a critical role and responsibility in a society as it acted as a catalyst over different issues. Imran then addressed the media and said that as the watchdog of the society, it has a big role to play in strengthening democracy, adding that it is the job of the media is to create awareness among the masses.

At the same time, he said, the media has to adopt ethical practices and stand against evil. “Unfortunately, a lot of media houses work solely for money, and some even accept foreign funding. I leave it to the public to find out which media houses are standing with the thieves [the Opposition],” he said. “The nation is observing the media and it can see which media house is working in favour of Pakistan and which one is a sell-out,” he said.

Talking about the no-trust motion, he warning that the opposition was going to lose this match badly.

Imran said he would prefer to lose his government than offer bribes and take the same route as the opposition allegedly has. “I curse on the government that requires me to bring back defected leaders using public money,” he told the rally.

The prime minister criticised Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif and other opposition leaders who called him out for saying “absolutely not” to the US request for military bases in Pakistan and elucidated the context of his statement.

“I had said absolutely not to a question when I was asked whether Pakistan will give a base to US in Pakistan for actions in Afghanistan… we cannot afford such an approach,” the premier explained.

He said he had told the America time and again that Pakistan would support it in peace and not in any war.

The premier then fired a broadside at Shehbaz for objecting to his criticism of European Union envoys who had urged Pakistan to condemn Russia in the United Nations. Imran said the EU ambassadors had violated the protocol by asking Pakistan to condemn Russia.

“I rightly asked them whether they will write a similar letter to India… Are we their slaves that they ask us to give a statement against any country,” the PM said in a reiteration of his statement against the EU representatives earlier this month.