LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan on Friday alleged that the Sharif brothers and Pakistan Peoples Party’s Asif Ali Zardari had ruined the country’s state institutions by posting their cronies in them, and blocking justice for the masses.

He cautioned that the new government after the 2018 general elections would face a plethora of challenges.

Speaking at the launch of journalist Zia Shahid’s book and a fundraising dinner for Shaukat Khanum Cancer Hospital, Mr Khan said that Mr Zardari and the Sharifs had increased the country’s debt burden from Rs6 trillion to Rs27tr over the past decade.

Speaking about the Quaid-i-Azam’s visionary leadership and his 47-year struggle to carve out a separate homeland for Muslims, Mr Khan regretted that the country’s politicians were corrupt people who only looked out for their vested interests. “The assets of politicians start piling up as soon they come into power and that speaks volume of their ‘service to the masses’,” he said.

The PTI chairman deplored that the country was headed downhill and was losing respect globally because its leaders had abandoned the spirit behind the movement for a separate homeland for Muslims. “Pictures of the Quaid-i-Azam adorn the walls of public offices but his qualities are not being appreciated by the people at the helm of the state’s affairs,” he said.

The poor people of the country did not have access to justice, while the parliament was full of corrupt politicians, he added, while lamenting that 45pc children in Pakistan had stunted growth, which hindered their potential to grow in life.

Referring to various global movements that had taken years to come to fruition, the PTI leader said there was no timeframe for someone to achieve success in their struggle. “Humans can only struggle, Allah gives success to his people,” he said, adding that leaders needed to work with missionary zeal and not prioritise vest interests.

Responding to Awami Muslim League president Sheikh Rasheed’s statement that people should give him a chance to govern the country, the PTI chief said Allah would change the hearts of the masses.

At the Shaukat Khanum Hospital fundraiser, he said there was no hospital in Pakistan that could offer treatment to the Sharif family.

He said the former prime minister and former foreign minister Khawaja Asif had criticised the Shaukat Khanum Hospital, yet its coffers continued to grow. Around 75pc of patients brought to the hospital received free treatment, Mr Khan added.

Published in Dawn, May 19th, 2018