FAISALABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan says he will join Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) chief Dr Tahirul Qadri to seek justice for the people killed and injured by police in the Model Town incident in 2014. He was addressing a big gathering at the Jaranwala Railway Ground on Friday.

Mr Khan said the poor strata of society would be the prime focus of the PTI when it gained power and then no one would be allowed to exploit the poor. He commenced his speech by denouncing US President Donald Trump’s announcement declaring Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

He said Muhammad Ali Jinnah had first raised objections in 1948 over the inception of the Zionist state on Palestinian’s land. He said Israel had long been trying to divide the Muslims into sects but the Trump’s decision would help Muslims unite again. Currently, he said, Israel was occupying the 82 percent land of Palestine, settling 500,000 settlers in illegal settlements.

He said the US president had ignored UN conventions which showed that neither the UN nor any other country would come forward to help the weak nation. In such a situations, he said, the powerful Pakistan army was a blessing for the masses, as no one would dare to harm Pakistan just because of the brave army.

He said his party would stand by the PAT chief in his pursuit of justice for Model Town victims until Sharif brothers and Rana Sanaullah were brought to justice. He said Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif had been using police to kill the people and a case of extrajudicial killing also had been registered against him.

He said Sharifs would not be spared this time as in the past they would get away by bribing judges, politicians and officials. Mr Khan said the ruling family had using the Punjab police for their personal gains and for those reasons, the PTI once in power, introduce police reforms on the patterns of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police.

He said the corrupt group had laundered billions and stashed them in foreign banks instead of using them for the well-being of the masses. He claimed he would increase the tax net from Rs3,500 billion to Rs8,000 billion by reforming the National Accountability Bureau and the Federal Board of Revenue. Flashing party flags, banners and placards, charged PTI activists from various areas thronged the venue.

Police resorted to baton charge when some of the PTI activists tried to enter women’s enclave. Pakistan Awami Muslim League leader Sheikh Rashid attracted huge applause when he said if the Sharif family did not vanish from the politics, people could call him Sanaullah. He said he had predicted long ago the political coffin of Sharifs would be taken out from the Supreme Court.

He announced quitting politics if he failed to bring Imran Khan to power. Chaudhry Sarwar said the Muslims would not accept Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. He said they would launch a struggle to get Jerusalem back as the land belonged to Palestine.

Published in Dawn, December 9th, 2017