Multan - Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Friday asked the residents of PP-196 to mark May 21 as condemnation and protest day against those who befooled the nation with false promises, adding he clearly saw the middle stump of NA-122 falling as the case was going to the tribunal today (Saturday).
He was addressing a public meeting here at Sports Ground. The meeting was held by the PTI in connection with PP-196 by-election, but the party failed to hold as impressive show as it did at Qasim Bagh Stadium before the May 2013 general elections. The ground could not be filled till the end of the event and majority of the attendants left the venue during Imran Khan’s speech.
The PTI chairman further said he anxiously waited for today (Saturday) as the case of the National Assembly speaker’s constituency, NA-122, was being sent to election tribunal. “I’ve waited for this moment for two years. First the wicket of NA-125 was hit while this time I am seeing middle stump of NA-122 falling,” he anticipated.
He said Shahbaz Sharif reiterated his claim during his pre-election speeches that loadshedding would be brought down if they came to power, but, it increased and the electricity prices also doubled. He said the government spent Rs 60 billion on the metro project in Multan. “I ask the residents of Multan whether they are receiving better treatment at hospitals, the police working has improved and they are getting clean water. Do they want metro bus or better hospitals?” he questioned.
Quoting statistics, he said 250 million kids were out of schools in Pakistan and 250,000 children died of water-borne diseases while one woman dies in hospitals after every 20 minutes. He asserted the government should have spent Rs 60 billion on the welfare of farmers, improvement of health and education sector. “But why would they spend this money on hospitals? They cannot earn kickbacks if they spend funds on health and education,” he alleged.
The PTI chief said he had not come to Multan to address just a public meeting held in connection with the by-election, but he had came to remind the residents of Multan that it was a contest between two ideologies. “On one side there is the ideology of new Pakistan while on the other there are the people who have been taking their turns since 1970. The nation is getting poorer while their accounts are inflating,” he maintained. He lamented that Pakistan stood at the bottom of human development index in the subcontinent. He added that the nations never made progress by constructing flyovers and motorways or launching metro bus projects; rather they went ahead by spending on welfare of human beings.
He told the audience that a provincial finance award was being set up in KP for the first time in the country’s history. “It will be a shining example for the entire country. With the constitution of this award after local government elections, the residents of each district, and not the chief minister, will decide their priorities for spending funds,” he added.
He said police could not do anything good in Karachi as they were highly politicised. “Peace cannot be restored in Karachi until cops are recruited on merit without any political interference,” he asserted. He said maintaining peace was the responsibility of police and not that of Rangers in Karachi. He said the KP police were a model for the entire country as recruitments were being made through NTS while the department was made totally free of political interference. He added the crime rate in terrorism-hit KP dropped by 60 percent while this ratio rose in the Punjab because of political interference in the force. “It is because the police are used for unlawful acts and no one gets promotion in the Punjab police until he gets clearance from Raiwind,” he claimed. He strongly criticised the Punjab IGP and said he was being paid salary from the taxes of the people, but he was acting like a servant of Sharifs.
He claimed 2015 would be the year of new Pakistan and PTI would bring forth officers like SSP Nekokara while the servants of Sharifs would be thrown out of police. Imran said he congratulated the nation in advance on basis of things coming forth in the judicial commission. He added weird things surfaced during the proceedings as the election commission accepted that additional ballot papers were printed. “But it is weirder that one constituency was sent just 100 additional ballot papers while Khawaja Saad Rafiq’s constituency received 126,000. Similarly, over 16 percent additional ballots were sent to Nawaz Sharif’s son in law’s constituency in KP,” he alleged.
He said had the government accepted his demand for opening just four constituencies, the judicial commission would not have been constituted. He claimed that no one would dare rig the election in future after constitution of the judicial commission in the country.
Earlier, speaking on the occasion, Awami Muslim League chief Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad said Zardari and Nawaz Sharif were two names of one politician as both of them befooled the people. “Zardari was a liar, he is a liar and he will remain a liar. He promised to make Saraiki province and backed out. Sharifs got resolutions approved for two provinces, but not a single one was created,” he asserted. He urged Imran khan to go out, kill, burn and abolish this system.
Addressing the public meeting, PTI Vice Chairman Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi said the government was going to spoil Rs 60 billion on just 16 kilometers. “If this money had been spent on the city, the face of Multan would have changed. Multan and Islamabad do not need metro bus. It is badly needed in Karachi,” he added.