LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan has said his party has begun preparations for marching on Raiwind and compelling Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to tell the truth to the nation about “amassing wealth and assets abroad in the name of his children.”

Hoping that Mr Sharif will “speak the truth” before party’s march towards his residence, the PTI chief in cricketing terminology said the PTI would begin “net practice” with its May 1 public meeting in Lahore.

Khan had earlier this month announced marching on prime minister’s Raiwind residence to protest against “his undeclared assets and offshore companies” but later at the party’s Foundation Day event announced protest on The Mall in Lahore on May 1.

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Party sources say the PTI will continue building pressure by holding public meetings in other cities as well, including Multan and Faisalabad, and focus on Lahore again by the end of the next month.

Speaking to party workers after a meeting with party leadership in Punjab here on Thursday, Mr Khan said the nation was heading towards holding the most powerful accountable for committing crimes, including corruption, tax evasion and money laundering – “for the very first time in Pakistan”.

Almost all opposition parties were joining hands against the prime minister, he added.

Mr Khan also announced restoring the party’s all wings, including the Insaf Students Federation (ISF), to mount (moral) pressure on the prime minister to step down while admitting his undeclared assets before the masses.

The PTI’s different wings were dissolved for holding intra-party elections, which according to sources, were being delayed to effectively respond to situation after Panama Papers leaks.

Stating there was actually no need to hold an inquiry, Mr Khan demanded the prime minister should simply tell the nation that how his children amassed such huge assets. He said the prime minister was so desperate that he was inaugurating “already inaugurated roads and gas pipelines” across the country.

The PTI chief also lashed out at the government for “lavishly spending taxpayers’ money on advertisements to protect prime minister and his family.” Stating the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) had offered no apology and rather asserted that Nawaz Sharif had transferred money abroad for his children’s offshore companies, Mr Khan announced PTI would move courts against these advertisements.

Mr Khan also claimed that Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Jahangir Khan Tareen in the Centre, and Chaudhry Sarwar and Shafqat Mahmood in Punjab had shunned their differences. He hoped they would now join hands and strengthen the party’s campaign against the prime minister.

The PTI chief also regretted misbehavior with women workers in the party’s Foundation Day event in Islamabad and assured that no such incident would happen in Lahore on May 1.

Party leaders Jahangir Khan Tareen, Chaudhry Sarwar, Shafqat Mahmood, Abdul Aleem Khan and others were present on the occasion.

Published in Dawn, April 29th, 2016