BAHAWALPUR: Laun­ching his party’s mass contact campaign here on Sunday, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan alleged that the prime minister had bought assets abroad in the name of his daughter through “ill-gotten money” and he would not able to save himself as the Panama case was going to be decided soon.

Speaking at a public meeting at the Dring Stadium, he also targeted Defence Minister Khawaja Asif and Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, lambasting the former for his remarks that Panama leaks had nothing to do with Pakistanis and terming the latter an agent of Nawaz Sharif.

The PTI chief asked Mr Asif if Panamagate was not an issue for Pakistanis, then was it a problem for Indians.

Mr Khan branded the group of spokesmen for the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-N, who often criticised him, as “Motu Gang”.

PTI chairman claims Islamabad sit-in made people aware of their rights

He recalled that during his earlier public meeting in Bahawalpur about two-and-a-half years ago, he had disclosed the date for the Islamabad sit-in, and now he had launched his mass contact campaign from the city.

The PTI’s Islamabad sit-in awakened people and made them aware of their rights and, as a result, they had launched a struggle for a just society, he said. “The dharna has changed Pakistan.”

He expressed sympathy for the people of southern Punjab who, according to him, had lagged behind other regions of the country.

Mr Khan went on to repeat his allegations that Mr Sharif had purchased properties abroad in the names of his daughter Maryam Nawaz and other children.

The crowd waved their hands in his support when Imran Khan asked them whether they would come out of their houses to join his mass contact drive.

“Had we made efforts even for 200 years, we could not have identified Nawaz Sharif’s properties in foreign countries. It is the Panama Leaks through which we have came to know about his ill-gotten wealth,” he said.

Because of the trend of transferring money abroad, he observed, the country was mired in debt.

He alleged that Prime Minister Sharif had been indulging in corrupt practices for the last 30 years and now he had become an “expert in corruption”.

“Hassan Nawaz was studying in 1999, but only after two years he became a millionaire,” he said.

“The children of corrupt people are healthy and chubby whereas children of poor people, who comprise 45 per cent of the country’s population, cannot even get proper food.”

The PTI chief declared that his party, with the support of masses, would confront all corrupt elements and spare none of them.

The former captain of the cricket team expressed disappointment over defeats of the present team and said it did not mean that the country faced dearth of talent.

After coming to power, he pledged, the PTI would try to improve the sports system in the country.

Development funds

Mr Khan said that Multan’s metro bus project was a waste of money.

The PTI general secretary, Jahangir Tareen, said if the government did not release Rs2.5 billion for Lodhran development package promised by the prime minister in Nov 2015. “I, along with Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, will take an extreme step against Nawaz Sharif”.

Referring to a recent accident, he said had funds been released, six children of Lodhran would not have lost their lives in the train accident.

Sheikh Rashid recalled that he had once been jailed in Bahawalpur, saying: “I am a suicidal politician and carry my shroud on my shoulders.”

He alleged that the prime minister had destroyed bureaucracy.

Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that the PTI, in a bid to seek justice in the Panama­gate case, had knocked at the doors of the Supreme Court.

He alleged that the funds sanctioned for 163 development schemes of southern Punjab had been diverted to Lahore.

Published in Dawn, January 9th, 2017