KARACHI - Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan yesterday urged Karachi residents to rise up for their rights against the “corrupt rulers”.

Addressing ‘Haqooq-e-Karachi (Rights of Karachi) March’ in the port city, he pointed to the miseries of the citizens and the sheer lack of civic facilities. “One called the city of lights is today buried in filth, and the money that should be spent for the development of Sindh province and Karachi city is being looted.”

Noting that Karachi contributes 60 percent to the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of the country, Imran Khan asked its residents why do they not come out on streets to protest against lack of clean water and heaps of garbage lining the city.

“[People of] Karachi used to raise voice against injustice before anyone else. Why is Karachi, which stood up for the rest of the country, not coming out for its own rights,” he asked.

PTI chairman said Karachi has remained almost aloof to national politics for decades, but now it was the time that its residents fight for their rights under a brave and honest leadership.

Talking about Panama case verdict, Imran Khan said he was fighting a ‘mafia’ and a ‘godfather’, pinching salt on the Sharif family’s wounds, which according to a media report was considering filing a review in the apex court to expunge the reference to Mario Puzo’s novel The Godfather from the Panama verdict.

Imran, who is leading a countrywide mass contact campaign against the government, said “the godfather has been handed over to the Joint Investigation Team (JIT)”, drawing an analogy between the lead character in novel and Nawaz Sharif.

He said the Panama case verdict will prove if the country would be rid of corruption or it would remain “a Pakistan of Zardari and Nawaz Sharif”.

The march started from Quaid’s mausoleum and concluded at Jail Chowrangi. PTI leaders and supporters moved towards the destination in a caravan of vehicles and bikes, while many of them marched on foot. They were carrying party flags and placards and banners inscribed with demands to give Karachi its due rights.

PTI leaders Imran Khan, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Asad Umer, Dr Arif Avli, Khurram Sherzaman, Faisal Vawda, Haleem Adil Sheikh, Imran Ismail Ali Zaidi, Fridous Shamim Naqvi, Dawa Khan Sabir and others were on a truck equipped with sound system. PTI chairman was given warm welcome by the PTI supporters at various points on the way.

Addressing his supporters at Jail Chowrangi, he said, “I had promised Karachiites I will come here after getting free from the Panama case, and I am here now.”

He said that the taxes being collected from the people of Karachi are being laundered through characters like Ayan Ali, a model who is considered to have been close to PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari and is facing a money laundering probe.

He said that Sunday’s march aimed at highlighting the loadshedding, water shortage, garbage disposal and other issues being faced by Karachi residents, but “the scene will be different” next time when his party would come out on streets of Karachi for national issues against the rulers.

Imran said that in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa his party’s government has introduced a well-empowered system of policing and local government and that was why Karachi Mayor Waseem Akther and Sindh IGP AD Kawajha were demanding similar system in Sindh.

Raising the “Go Nawaz Go” slogan, Imran said that accountability process of the corrupt rulers has started and credit goes to PTI.

Nawaz Sharif might have been suffering from high temperature which has forced him to narrate a fake story regarding the panama case. “A lair cannot be a prime minister of country,” he said.

“Don’t you remember [former COAS] Pervaiz Musharaf detained you [Nawaz] in Attock prison and now you are crying just to hide your corruption,” said PTI chairman.

Everyone, men, women and children, were now aware about the “robbery” committed by Nawaz Sharif and that was why they were raising “Go Nawaz Go” slogan.

Talking about Dawn leaks, PTI leader said that “I have never seen a leader defaming their own military”. He added that this behaviour has mitigated the difference between Nawaz and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is an avowed enemy of Pakistan.

Speaking on the occasion, PTI leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi criticised Pakistan Peoples Party, which rules Sindh, for not giving Karachi its due rights.

He said Imran Khans was the only honest leader of the country who took bold steps to eliminate corruption from the country and was now standing with the people of Karachi for resolution of their issues.

Without naming MQM, Qureshi said that the people who claimed to be the stakeholders of the city did not pay any heed to the problems of the city during their tenure in government and they were busy in mere point scoring. He said the metropolis was systematically ruined by different political forces for their own vested interests.

Other party leaders including Karachi President Firdous Shamim Naqvi also spoke on the occasion.

Clash of workers

Workers of PTI and ruling PML-Nawaz came face to face outside the Karachi Press Club and clashed with each other, turning the area into a battleground.

PML-N supporters were staging a protest at the press club when the PTI convoy reached there for moving ahead to its destination.

The situation turned ugly when PTI workers chanted anti-Nawaz slogans, provoking PML-N workers who responded with anti-Imran slogans. Both sides started pelting each other as the situation become tenser. Police, with the help of the leaders on both sides, intervened and controlled the situation.

Rs10 BILLION ‘OFFER’

Earlier when Imran Khan arrived at Karachi airport in the morning, he told the media that the person who had offered him Rs10 billion on behalf of the Sharif family for withdrawing from Panama case was a resident of Lahore.

“The man is a “Lahori” who has links both in PML-N and PTI. “Summon me in the court, and I will reveal his identity,” he dared the PM and his brother Shehbaz Shairf, who has announced to drag the PTI chief to the court for levelling a “false” accusation.

Imran reiterated that the middleman was also offered Rs2 billion in case he succeeds in forging the deal. Also, he said that Rs10 billion was an initial offer and more bribe was to be given to him if he had not rejected the offer.

He claimed that PML-N leaders and workers would leave Nawaz Sharif alone the very next day his government is toppled.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is an avowed enemy of Pakistan. Speaking on the occasion, PTI leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi criticised Pakistan Peoples Party, which rules Sindh, for not giving Karachi its due rights.

He said Imran Khans was the only honest leader of the country who took bold steps to eliminate corruption from the country and was now standing with the people of Karachi for resolution of their issues.

Without naming MQM, Qureshi said that the people who claimed to be the stakeholders of the city did not pay any heed to the problems of the city during their tenure in government and they were busy in mere point scoring. He said the metropolis was systematically ruined by different political forces for their own vested interests.

Other party leaders including Karachi President Firdous Shamim Naqvi also spoke on the occasion.