ISLAMABAD - Criticising prime minister's speech on the last day of the joint sitting of the parliament, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf Imran Khan on Friday taunted Premier Nawaz Sharif for comparing himself with the founder of the country, Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah.
"There is hell of difference between Nawaz Sharif and Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Nawaz Sharif you should be ashamed of yourself when you talk about Quaid-i-Azam," he said with reference of PM's speech in the joint sitting.
He said that Quaid always spoke the truth, did not evade taxes, always made public his assets, never did money laundering and lastly he never deprived people of their democratic right of protest. He said that actions of Nawaz Sharif were contrary to Quaid's and how could he compare himself with the founder of Pakistan.
As Imran Khan had announced Friday as the 'Day of Salvation and Go Nawaz Go Day', police contingents, even heavier than those on the previous days, were witnessed all around the venues of the sit-ins of the two protesting parties in the Red Zone.
Convincing his protestors to stand against the tyrant, as it was saying of the God as well as all prophets, he said, "We are here for this cause and I am standing here to fight against the tyrants." PTI chief told his supporters that their objective to gather there was to tell the people that they had some rights.
"If all the poor people of Pakistan started knowing about their rights, then my mission would be completed," he said, adding that this system would not remain functional any more where poor were becoming poorer and the rich were becoming richer.
Unlike the other days, vehicles instead of motorcycles were present in parking area for the sit-in at Fazal-e-Haq Road as PTI protestors preferred using cars instead of motorcycles to reach the venue because of imposition of Section 144 and fear of arrests. Despite tall claims of Khan, the crowd however remained thin like other days.
Imran Khan said that PML-N held a rally on Friday in Peshawar but their way was not obstructed by placing shipping containers or through any other means, as it was the democratic right of the people to protest. “But the voice of ‘Go Nawaz Go’ were heard in that rally,” he said. He said that police violence was being used against the protesters to stop them from participating in the protest.
Giving the demographic figures of the country, PTI chief said that 25 million children were out from secondary schools. "Around 0.4 million children die every year due to drinking of unclean water," he said, adding that 45 percent of the total population could not get food according to world health standards and 110 million people are living below the poverty line.
Giving crime data, Imran said there was 30 percent increase in crime rate in Punjab in last five years, 3 million crimes occurred in this period in the country and out of this total 2 million occurred only in Punjab. He said that during last five years, 170,000 vehicles were stolen, 203,000 of those in Punjab.
Before setting on fire his electricity bill in the public, Imran Khan alleged that government fixed electricity rate with power plants illegally and at inflated rates up to 14 rupees while similar plants were providing electricity in India at the rate of 8 rupees. He said that the national kitty faced 500 billion loss in power sector. He said that PM Nawaz Sharif despite his tall claims had only succeeded to bring 750 million dollars foreign investment during his present tenure while 5.3 billion dollars of investment came in the country during last six years.
PTI chief said that NAB had quitted Nawaz Sharif in Hudabya Paper Mills case because both PML-N and PPP had selected the NAB chief. He alleged that Leader of Opposition in NA Syed Khurshid Shah was facing two big corruption cases in NAB and he was also being quitted in these cases. "But we will open all these cases again... We will bring back 200 billion dollars looted money from abroad, he promised his supporters.
Khan questioned that why Nawaz Sharif raised the electrify rates up to 80 percent in a year and then he set on fire his electricity bill as a mark of protest. "Why we pay the bill of the electricity that is being consumed by thieves," he said. About rigging, he said that an election tribunal judge in its recent verdict had questioned the role of returning officers (RO).