Pakistan: Imran Khan seeks ‘sea of support’

Islamabad, March 17 (UNI) Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan exhorted the people to stand with the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) in Islamabad on March 27, against what he called “the three thieves” to tell the world that they are against the “hypocrites and the allies of the United States”, Dawn reported on Thursday. Khan said this while addressing a huge gathering in a Saidu Sharif ground, where he was accompanied by Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mahmood Khan, Senator Faisal Javed, Minister for Communications Murad Saeed and all lawmakers from Swat. Khan also claimed that it was his efforts at the United Nations that led to the world body to adopt a resolution to combat Islamophobia, leading it designate March 15 as the International Day against Islamophobia. Taking a dig at Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Khan said that the Maulana who claims to be champion of Islam, could never muster up the courage to speak against Islamophobia, neither did any past prime minister of Pakistan could do the same, because they all were “slaves of the west”. This Khan claimed was the first landmark achievement after the the Ahmadis were declared a religious minority in the Constitution in 1973. Khan accused the ‘three thieves’ of looting the country with both hands and making all-out efforts to eliminate the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) because they were afraid of the corruption proceedings against them. “They are sitting in Sindh House with a heap of money to buy the MPs. They are trying to buy the conscience of the elected representatives by the unconstitutional act of horse-trading,” the PM said, asking the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to take action against the alleged horse-trading. He further claimed that it was the PTI that not only saved the country from coronavirus but also saved its economy with its wise policies and decisions during the Covid-19 pandemic. He also recalled the government’s achievement in garnering record tax collection which enabled it to lower the prices of petrol and diesel by Rs10 and power tariff by Rs5 per unit at a time when many countries were facing record inflation. Meanwhile, the PTI government has stuck to its decision to hold a “mammoth” public meeting at D-Chowk here on March 27,and has formed a high-level committee to finalise the arrangements and submitted a formal application to seek NOC from the local administration to hold the rally at the same venue where PTI had staged the country’s longest sit-in against the PML-N government. UNI ACL 0935