LAHORE: Urging his followers to support him in his fight for 'real independence' in the country, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chairman Imran Khan says no less than two million people should reach Islamabad on his call.

“I will tour all major cities across the country and motivate people to reach the federal capital,” the former premier told PTI workers’ convention at Aiwan-e-Iqbal here on Wednesday.

He also urged workers to offer special prayers on the night of 27th of Ramazan for the success of the party cause. “Install big TV screens at crowded places and residential areas and join special prayers led by religious scholar Maulana Tariq Jameel,” he said.

Continuing his bitter diatribe against political rivals, Imran Khan said three stooges and their army of ministers were looking for NRO-II to “cleanse their past corruption record and begin looting the country yet again.”

Ex-CJP Saqib Nisar meets PTI chief; Khan laments media ‘blackout’

He said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif immediately transferred an active officer in the FIA and would know try to get his Rs16 billion corruption cases closed. “Similarly, PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari and ministers’ cases would also be closed. The three stooges will bury the justice system and the NAB and the courts won’t be able to catch big fish,” he said.

Mr Khan also expressed his complete distrust in the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja, alleging that Mr Raja was acting as PML-N agent and taking all decisions against the PTI.

Demanding his resignation, the former premier asked why the courts and Election Commission of Pakistan were not hearing the dissidents’ cases on a day-to-day basis to find out conspiracy behind the ousting of his government.

“This is the call of every Pakistani that the cases of turncoats should be heard on a daily basis as they had committed treason against the country and its people,” he asserted.

In order to `consult’ legal experts, Mr Khan had earlier in the day invited former CJP Saqib Nisar to his Zaman Park residence. Sources say they discussed legalities regarding oath-taking by the Punjab chief minister-elect since the Lahore High Court had advised the governor to administer oath on Thursday (today).

Reacting to the meeting, PML-N vice-president Maryam Nawaz said: “It is a meeting between the issuer and recipient of fake certificates of honesty (Sadiq and Amin). They have tainted the sacred titles of Sadaqat and Amanat.”

At the workers convention, the former premier said an `imported government’ had been installed through conspiracy in Pakistan. “The US wants to control Pakistan through the three stooges – Shehbaz Sharif, Asif Ali Zardari and Maulana Fazalur Rehman,” he said and added that they would easily be controlled because they had stashed their looted money abroad. “These three stooges will make Pakistan a slave nation,” Khan said.

The PTI chairman further told his charged workers that his government had kept asking the ECP to hear simultaneously the foreign funding cases of other parties but the CEC was only hearing the PTI case.

“Since no one can now defeat PTI in Pakistan, a conspiracy has been hatched to take action against the party by finding some fault in foreign funding,” he added.

Mr Khan said that he had shown the diplomatic cable to the Chief Justice of Supreme Court and President of Pakistan and added that even the National Security Committee meeting, called by PM Shehbaz Sharif, confirmed that the diplomatic cable was genuine.

The PTI chairman also chided news channels (except four TV houses) for blacking him out and asked freedom of expression warriors that why they were no more standing against his media blackout. “During the PTI government tenure, 80 per cent of the programmes were against the PTI government. So why is there a media blackout now?” he asked.

Published in Dawn, April 28th, 2022