KARACHI: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Thursday said that the party will support the Shikarpur Shuhada Committee's long march on February 15 from Shikarpur to the Chief Minister House in Karachi to put pressure on the government to arrest the culprits behind the Shikarpur imambargah blast.
Khan said that the caretaker of Shikarpur's Masjid-o-Imambargah Karbala-i-Moulla refused financial aid from Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah and only demanded answers as to why action was not taken against the perpetrators.
Take a look at: At least 60 killed in blast at Shikarpur imambargah
Khan further said that there are two reasons as to why people are barbarically killed on sectarian grounds.
Firstly, he explained, the police force had been rendered completely ineffective and had been turned into a political force for exacting political revenge. He gave the example of PTI's Larkana rally where many party leaders had been prosecuted.
Khan also gave the example of Punjab. "Ejaz Chaudhry was a good man as long as he was in the PML-N, but had cases registered against him once he joined the PTI," he said.
Khan said people are afraid of police, adding that they were also scared of leaving their homes.
"It is time to improve the police force; I can say with pride that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has been completely depoliticised. If we don't improve the police force, security cannot improve."
The PTI chief said the war against terror cannot be won by military operations alone, adding that the war will continue unless the police forces in Sindh and Punjab are not reformed.
Khan said that the second reason as to why violence continues is because the government "have links with terrorists".
"The case is different in tribal areas, sectarian issues in Sindh are different, Balochistan has a different scenario as does Karachi," said the PTI chief.
Khan further discussed the situation of interior Sindh, stating that the people have no rights and their dignity has been killed.
"The state of interior Sindh as I have witnessed in the past 18 years, I have never seen such a deplorable state any where else in the world," he lamented.
"Where does the money given to Sindh under the National Finance Commission (NFC) disappear?" Khan questioned as he alleged that the leadership takes all the funds and does not let it trickle down to the masses.
"The time has come for Asif Zardari and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to end their foreign tours. We have fully supported the government in the All Parties Conference (APC), to rid the country of militancy. I ask Nawaz Sharif to tell me what the government has done so far, how many militant groups have been de-weaponised?" he questioned.
Talking about the Senate elections, the PTI leader said: "How can the PPP contest on four senate seats in Khyber Pakhtunkhawa when they have a total of three MPAs?"
He said that the masses are protectors of democracy and urged people to protest against those MPAs who had received votes on the basis of one party, but later voted for candidates of other parties during Senate elections.
"My message to the people of Sindh is that be prepared, we are coming to Sindh and will bring new people to replace the tried and tested faces," said Khan.
He added that PTI will start campaigning for the implementation of direct elections of senators.
