SUKKUR: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chairman Imran Khan has vowed to launch an “aggressive anti-corruption campaign” in Sindh like the one he said he spearheaded for investigation into the Panama Papers leaks.

He was addressing a large public meeting of his party here on Friday night.

In what appears to be a tit-for-tat response to recent political activities of Pakistan Peoples Party in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the target of Mr Khan in Sukkur was more PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari than his usual rival, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif.

Says ousted PM Sharif targeting judiciary, army to destabilise country

The PTI chief said it was time for the former president to face accountability. The people of Sindh were victimised by the PPP for their loyalty to the PTI, he claimed, adding it was high time change was brought about in the province.

“The way Pakistani nation defeated a Godfather [Nawaz Sharif], soon a pharaoh [Asif Ali Zardari] would be ousted from politics with the same spirit,” he said.

“The rulers of Sindh are looters and everyone knows that Zardari is their leader. The awareness campaign that we launched against their corruption and dishonesty has convinced the nation that they cannot be our leaders and rulers any more. They all would be out of this country soon.”

The PTI chief alleged that like the Sharif family the PPP co-chairman was also involved in money laundering which had got him the Surrey Palace.

Recalling a 1996 National Assembly session, he said Mr Zardari denied ownership of the Surrey Palace but only admitted it after then president Pervez Musharraf introduced the National Reconciliation Ordinance.

Mr Khan also condemned the two “national leaders” for their “silence” over US President Donald Trump’s “threat” to Pakistan.

“I can tell you that why they are silent when Trump has threatened Pakistan,” he said, adding that “they are silent because they feel that their assets in the West will be in jeopardy if they criticise or condemn his statement. Instead of replying to Trump, Nawaz Sharif is targeting the judiciary and Pakistan Army only to destabilise the country. But I want to tell him that entire nation is behind our army and judiciary.”

The PTI chief vowed to introduce a four-point policy for economic and social development as well as elimination of corruption from the country.

He said the PTI had a comprehensive plan to bring “revolutionary change” in social and economic sector of Pakistan through four-point policy. The provincial government of his party in KP, he said, had introduced the same policy in the province for reforms in different areas.

“First we have a strong economic policy for poverty elimination which would lead to drastic reforms in agriculture, health and education sectors,” he said.

“Secondly, we would introduce merit-based system which would automatically ouster incompetent and corrupt people from the governance system. Then we have a plan of a strong and powerful NAB which would keep check on corruption in public sector without discrimination. Fourth and final is our programme against pollution and for that, we would launch massive plantation campaign across the country.”

Addressing the public meeting, PTI leader Asad Umar said that Mr Khan played an important role in the ouster of Nawaz Sharif from the prime minister’s office.

He severely criticised PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari and accused him of being involved in big corruption cases. He said now the PTI would expose what he called the corruption of Mr Zardari. He said it was a pity that a person like Mr Zardari could hold the post of president in this country.

He said the PTI would continue its struggle for making all corrupt people accountable.

In his address, Awami Muslim League chief Shaikh Rasheed Ahmed accused the former prime minister of looting people’s money. He said the answer of Mr Sharif’s question that why he had been ousted from the prime minister’s office was that “you are a thief”. He said the nation should salute the five judges of the Supreme Court for their verdict in the Panama Papers case.

Mr Ahmed said he hoped that the PTI chief would clean the country from all corrupt people.

He criticised the new United States policy for South Asia in which it had blamed Pakistan for unrest in Afghanistan and said all political forces of the country should take a strong stand against the US president’s threats. However, he added, there should be no expectation from people such as Maulana Fazur Rehman and Asfandyar Wali.

PTI leaders who were present on the occasion included: Dr Arif Alvi, Haleem Adil Shaikh, Mobeen Jatoi, Syed Tahir Hussain Shah, Abdul Majeed Pathan, Haji Muhammad Jawed Memon, Dr Rab Nawaz Kalwar, Zubair Karim, Dawa Khan, Pupoo Chachar, Safia Baloch, Abdul Qadir Shahwani, Danish Memon, Haji Pervez Ali Channa, Haji Sharif Dad, Lala Yasir, Mosin Shahwani, Muhammad Raees Qureshi, Munir Memon, Saleem Mala, Shakeel Abbas Qureshi, Umair Memon, Zaheer Hussain Bhatti and Zubair Qureshi.

Earlier on arrival at Sukkur airport at about 6pm, Mr Khan and other PTI leaders received a warm welcome by thousands of their party workers. They were brought to the venue of the party’s public meeting, Lab-i-Mehran Sukkur, in a big procession.

More than 50 small and big processions were taken out in the city which reached at the venue of the public meeting.

The whole city was decorated with PTI flags, banners and big billboards.

Strict security arrangements were made by the local administration with deployment of more than 15,000 police personnel around the venue of the public meeting and routes of the procession from the Airport.

A separate procession of women was taken out under the leadership of Safia Baloch, president of PTI’s women wing in Sukkur, from her residence. A large number of women reached the venue of the public meeting in this procession.

Published in Dawn, August 26th, 2017