CHAKWAL: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan said on Saturday that Pakistan’s sacrifices in the war against terrorism were not being recognised by the world.

He was addressing a public meeting of his party organised in connection with the by-election on Punjab Assembly constituency PP-20 (Chakwal-I) which is scheduled to be held on Jan 9.

Mr Khan alleged that the country was being humiliated because of the wrong policies of its “corrupt” rulers. He lashed out at ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif and Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, alleging that because of their corruption the country was facing pressure despite its numerous sacrifices.

He rejected allegations levelled by US President Donald Trump on Pakistan, saying that the country had lost over 70,000 citizens to the war and suffered huge economic losses.

Criticising the US policy on Afghanistan, he said after having failed to end militancy in the war-torn country the American leadership was now trying to put the blame of its failures on Pakistan. The US had its troops in Afghanistan for 16 years but it had failed to restore order to the country, he added.

PTI chief holds the Sharifs responsible for country’s ‘humiliation’

However, he claimed that the pressure on Pakistan was because of the wrong policies and corruption of its rulers.

The PTI chief accused the ousted PM of being involved in money laundering of $30 billion. He alleged that instead of giving answers about his corruption, Mr Sharif was trying to defame the Supreme Court and the army.

He claimed that the recent visit of the Sharifs to Saudi Arabia was a bid to gain support of the kingdom’s ruling family for getting some political relief at home.

He criticised the economic policies of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz government and claimed it had burdened the country with huge foreign loans. Unless the corruption of the ruling elite was stopped, the country would keep taking foreign loans, he added.

Mr Khan accused former finance minister Ishaq Dar of being involved in corruption and claimed that his sons owned two towers in Dubai worth $25bn.

He said the government had failed to create job opportunities for the youth and provide health and education facilities to the masses.

Mr Khan said that after coming to power the PTI would introduce economic policies that would help the country get rid of foreign loans. He repeated his earlier statement that he needed 200 honest people to put the country on the right track.

He gave the examples of the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Namal College Mianwali, saying that one could learn a lot from the two success stories.

The focus of a PTI government would be on eliminating corruption from the country and for the purpose it would increase the powers of the Federal Inves-tigation Agency and National Accountability Bureau.

He said that Pakistan International Airlines, Wapda and Pakistan Steel Mills gobbled up Rs600bn every year because the government had no policy to improve the performance of these organisations.

The PTI chief criticised the policies of the Punjab chief minister, claiming that he was unjustly putting money only on road and railway projects.

He appreciated the performance of his party’s provincial government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, saying that it was trying to provide relief to people.

Mr Khan appealed to Chakwal’s people to support his party’s candidate in the Jan 9 by-poll.

Addressing the public meeting Awami Muslim League chief Sheikh Rashid criticised the Sharifs and termed them enemies of the country and its judiciary and the army.

Meanwhile, before the PTI’s meeting in Chakwal rumours were rife in the city that veteran columnist Ayaz Amir, who won a National Assembly seat from the city in the 2008 general elections on the PML-N ticket, would announce his decision to join the PTI during the public meeting. But Mr Amir did not turn up at the gathering.

Talking to Dawn, however, a PTI leader claimed that Mr Amir was supporting the party. “Jahangir Tareen has talked to Ayaz Amir and asked him for support for which the latter has agreed”, he added.

Published in Dawn, January 7th, 2018