RAWALPINDI: Pakistan Tehreek-­i-Insaf chief Imran Khan has alleged that a conspiracy is being hatched against the army and Supreme Court, but stopped short of directly accusing ousted premier Nawaz Sharif of being behind it.

“Nawaz Sharif has repeatedly pointed to the army, whereas our military says they stand by democracy. He should explain how he is being conspired against,” Mr Khan told a gathering of PTI and Awami Muslim League supporters at the historic Liaquat Bagh in the garrison city on Sunday night.

“What do you mean, we should expunge the qualification of sadiq and ameen from the Constitution,” he asked, saying that whenever such an attempt was made, hundreds of thousands of people would descend on Islamabad to prevent such a conspiracy from unfolding.

Warns against attempt to amend Constitution

“I will mobilise ten times as many people as [Nawaz Sharif] did to defend these institutions,” Mr Khan said in response to Mr Sharif’s announcement that he wished to change the Constitution.

Highlighting his four-point agenda for change, he said he would launch a jihad against poverty to rescue the country. Accusing the Sharifs of keeping power within the family, he claimed that he would reintroduce “merit” in the country. He said that in the 1960s, the world looked to Pakistan as an exemplary state due to the prevalence of merit.

The PTI chief said that whenever terrorism declined in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, it contributed to a decline in terrorist attacks across the country, and praised the KP police for controlling the menace.

Highlighting the importance of climate change, he said his party was working to improve the country’s environment. He claimed that global events were taking their toll on Pakistan’s eco-system, adding that his party’s tree plantation campaign in KP had yielded positive results.

Earlier, PTI vice chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi responded to the former prime minister’s repeated question about why he was disqualified. “You were disqualified for looting taxpayers’ money, being involved in corruption and turning Pakistanis into beggars,” he said.

He said Nawaz Sharif had served as prime minister thrice and his party formed the government in Punjab six times, yet he failed to deliver and was now talking about a new system.

“You (Nawaz Sharif) failed to accept the mandate of Benazir Bhutto and ousted her government with the help of then-president Farooq Leghari and now you are talking about respecting the vote and mandate of the people,” he said.

“Supreme Court gave you 184 days to explain your money trail and prove yourself innocent. You failed to explain yourself before the Joint Investigation Team and misguided the people about the SC decision,” Mr Qureshi added.

He said that whenever the PTI took out a rally, it was stopped by erecting barriers and containers. However, a PML-N rally was given safe passage and escorted by BMW cars.

At the outset, Imran Khan thanked Sheikh Rashid Ahmed for his efforts in organising the rally, which was initially meant to be an Awami Muslim League show.

On his part, Mr Ahmed thanked Imran Khan for nominating him as his party’s candidate for the office of the prime minister.

Sheikh Rashid alleged that on the day of the PM’s election, the ruling party had called in thugs to “assassinate” both him and Imran Khan.

This was Imran Khan’s first public meeting at Liaquat Bagh in six years; his last scheduled appearance here was in 2013, but he could not come after having been injured by falling from a stage during an election campaign event in Lahore.

Published in Dawn, August 14th, 2017