Final showdown with Sharif govt after Muharram: Imran

Published October 1, 2016
PTI chairman Imran Khan addressing the rally on Friday.—White Star
PTI chairman Imran Khan addressing the rally on Friday.—White Star

LAHORE: Pakistan Teh­reek-i-Insaf chairman Imran Khan announced on Friday that the Nawaz Sharif government would not be allowed to function after Muharram if the prime minister did not present himself for accountability.

“Islamabad will be shut down,” he said, asking the PTI workers to wait for a final call after Muharram. He said the PTI would not hold any public meeting against Prime Minister Sharif from now onwards but would go for a final showdown.

Addressing a public rally at Adda Plot on Raiwind Road, close to Mr Sharif’s residence, the PTI chief called Narendra Modi ‘extremist and biased’, who failed to become a statesman even after becoming prime minister of India.

“Modi should stop hurling threats at Pakistan because the Pakistani nation is ready to clear all his misconceptions,” the PTI chief warned and said the Indian premier must stop violations of the Line of Control because war would not be a solution to any problem. He called for peace, trade and investment to bring about prosperity in the region.

Mr Khan accused PM Sharif of looting the national wealth and spending billions of rupees on his security and purchasing properties and setting up offshore companies. “The Nawaz government’s days are numbered,” he said.

The PTI chief ran a video explaining his point that the Panama Papers proved that PM Sharif stole money, concealed it, evaded taxes and laundered money abroad. “Now, there is no doubt that Nawaz Sharif bought expensive properties abroad with money looted from Pakistan,” he claimed.

He alleged that the FBR chairman was illegally sending about Rs250 million to Dubai every month and the FIA never started investigations.

Earlier, PTI’s senior leader Shah Mahmood Qureshi said time had come that the PML-N government be rolled back and urged people to support Imran Khan for the country’s sovereignty.

Criticising the Indian premier for considering launching surgical strikes in Pakistan, he warned Mr Modi against committing any ‘nonsense’.

The Pakistan Army as well as the nation would respond in the most furious manner, he said, adding that the Modi government was committing human rights violations in held Kashmir.

Published in Dawn, October 1st, 2016

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