MITHI: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday said he knew half of the Tharis were Hindus and assured them that his government would protect the rights of minorities unlike the Modi government that had let loose a reign of terror on the Muslim population of India.

Warning his Indian counterpart to shun politics of hatred, Mr Khan said the Modi-like mindset had forced the Muslims of the subcontinent to struggle for a separate country for themselves. Even Mahatma Gandhi had to observe a hunger strike against atrocities by Modi-like fanatics, Mr Khan said, advising the Indian PM not to push the two nuclear states towards war.

In his first address in Chhachhro taluka of Thar after becoming prime minister, Mr Khan said his government was acting upon the teachings of Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah who had called for ensuring full protection to all races and religions in Pakistan. “The PTI government is fully committed to protecting religious minorities across the country,” he said, adding that nobody would be allowed to harm communal harmony.

He also made it clear that no person or organisation would be allowed to carry out terror acts in other countries by using the soil of Pakistan. However, he said, those busy in relief works did not need to be afraid of the ongoing crackdown under the National Action Plan.

Imran assures Tharis of rights protection, asks Bilawal to ‘learn clean politics’

Mr Khan said soon after coming to power he had invited Mr Modi to work for peace in the region but the latter engaged himself in politics of hate and war to win the upcoming elections. He said the Indian authorities had made the life of Kashmiris miserable after the Pulwama blast instead of responding positively to Pakistan’s offer for help in tracing perpetrators. “In case of any misadventure by India, the armed forces and people of Pakistan are fully prepared to respond in a befitting manner,” he said, adding that they were not weak but wanted to fight poverty.

Mr Khan said Tipu Sultan was his real hero who laid down his life while defending his motherland, but not the last Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar who preferred to go into exile after accepting slavery.

Politics of hate in Sindh

The prime minister said it was easy to come into power by fomenting hatred among people and raising slogans such as Jeay Sindh or Jaag Punjabi Jaag. Karachi, too, did not progress due to the politics of hate by one person for many years, he said. “Had Karachi not been hijacked by a single person it would have been economically in a better position than Dubai,” he said.

Also criticising Pakistan Peoples Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, Mr Khan asked him to “learn clean politics”. He said the language Mr Bhutto-Zardari had used during a recent parliament session was beyond the ken of a majority of lawmakers sitting in the National Assembly at that time.

Mr Khan said former president Pervez Musharraf under the US pressure had promulgated the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO), with the result that Asif Ali Zardari not only got over $60 million deposited in Swiss banks but also managed to stash other plundered wealth. He said Mr Zardari would not have been in a difficult situation if he had not committed massive corruption. “Had Bilawal Bhutto and his father taken U-turns, they would have been in comfortable positions at the moment,” the PM said.

He said during the 2018 general elections, he did not find time to tour parts of Sindh for the election campaign but he would now focus on strengthening his party in the entire province by inviting people of good reputation to join him.

He said he had arrived in Thar to provide Health Insaf Cards to 112,000 households of Thar. He also announced two mobile hospitals and four ambulances for the district government and installation of 100 reverse osmosis (RO) plants in Thar.

Coal reserves in Thar would change Pakistan’s destiny, Mr Khan said, adding that the federal government would try to give maximum facilities to the locals from where natural resources were being discovered.

Foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said this area (Chhachhro) had come under the occupation of Indian forces during the 1971 war when General Yahya was at the helm of affairs. “In Naya Pakistan, no power on earth can even think of attacking this sacred soil,” he said.

Former Sindh chief minister Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim held the PPP government responsible for all the issues the drought-hit Thar had been facing and demanded the PM to announce massive relief package.

The town remained shut throughout the day due to security issues.

Published in Dawn, March 9th, 2019