BAHAWALPUR / DERA GHAZI KHAN: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Saturday urged the legal fraternity to become part of his “crusade” to revolutionise the justice system in the country as he separately warned the government to stop using “pressure tactics” against him as his patience was running thin.

The former prime minister made these remarks during his visit to Bahawalpur where he spoke at a ceremony organised by the lawyer community followed by a public gathering at Dring Stadium in the southern Punjab city.

At the rally, the PTI chief continued his tirade against the ruling parties and accused their leadership of corruption and economic mismanagement. Mr Khan warned the government that he had been tolerating “excesses” against his party for four months and said if he announced a march on Islamabad then the government would have nowhere to hide.

The former premier said there was still time to “save the country” by holding transparent general elections. Mr Khan said he would have another telethon next Sunday to collect funds for the flood survivors. He said accountability and a fair justice system would attract investments from overseas Pakistanis as well and end the country’s reliance on global money lenders.

Warns govt against ‘excesses’, says it will have nowhere to hide if he announced march on Islamabad

Addressing the gathering of lawyers, Mr Khan told them that he had come to the city to prepare them for ‘jihad’ to ensure the rule of law and added that “if you don’t understand what kind of jihad you’re fighting then you’ll carry out a suicide attack”.

Mr Khan bashed the Sharif family and PPP chief Asif Ali Zardari for their alleged role in laundering money out of Pakistan and called upon lawyers to launch a “collective struggle” against the “mafias” to bring “justice revolution” in Pakistan.

Visit to flood-hit areas

The former premier also visited flood-hit areas in Rajanpur, where he was given a detailed briefing by Dera Ghazi Khan Commissioner Liaqat Ali Chattha. He also met the flood victims in Rojhan Mazari and assured them that he would ask the Punjab government to compensate them for their losses.

He said Murunj and Sorra dams should be built in the region to store floodwater and irrigate farmlands. The funds collected by the PTI during its donation drive would be spent on all survivors without any discrimination, he said.

Earlier in the day, in a tweet about his telethon to raise funds for the survivors, the PTI chairman claimed that Rs2.3 billion have been collected in response to his flood relief telethon. “I want to thank Pakistanis at home & overseas for donating Rs2.3bn already in response to my flood relief telethon. All those who are yet to deposit their pledges please do so. My team is working to facilitate overseas Pak who await 501 3(c) exemption for large transactions,” Imran Khan revealed.

In a separate development, PTI leader Kanwal Shauzab urged the United Arab Emirates and local authorities to take action after she was approached by “Dubai-based blackmailers” who threatened to leak her “video” if she failed to send them money.

Ikram Junaidi in Islamabad also contributed to this report

Published in Dawn, September 4th, 2022