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ISLAMABAD, Sept 16: Jemima Khan, the spouse of Tehrik-i- Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan, has called upon the women of the country to exercise their right to choose the future leadership at all costs as it will determine the fate of their next generations.
She was speaking at, what the police sources said, “biggest public meetings held so far in the capital since the electioneering kicked off,” at G-9 Markaz, on Monday.
She gave a big surprise to the audience, mostly women, when she delivered her speech, though written, in fluent Urdu. Talking to Pakistani women, she said: “I don’t stress on you to vote only for my husband, but for whoever you find fit for leadership.”
Ms Khan said: “I am a Pakistani like you and like majority of the people, wanted a major change that could end hunger, poverty, ailments, unemployment and lawlessness in our country.”
Taking part, for the first time, in the ongoing election campaign of the party of her husband, Ms Khan warned the people of the country, specially women, that a wrong decision on their part at this crucial time could lead the nation to the road of unending sufferings and agonies.
Imran Khan, speaking on the occasion, lamented that “Chaudhrys of Gujrat, despite being declared defaulters, were allowed to contest the elections”.
He said: “I question General Pervez Musharraf that he had promised the nation that he would not allow the loan defaulters and plunderers of the national wealth to contest the elections, but why he could not keep his promise.”
Mr Khan showed several documents, which he said were the annual reports of the Muslim Commercial Bank for the year 2000, “as was approved by the State Bank of Pakistan”. These reports, he said, indicated that Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and his brother, Chaudhry Pervez Ellahi, had had Rs2.5 billion loan written off in their favour.
He said: “According to certified government record, only 80 people owed Rs29 billion, which can not be recovered because of their influence.”
The PTI chief said the main problem with the country was the “lack of required strength of the judiciary and the writ of the law”.
“An ordinary man could end up with detention of his mother and father, even if he makes a minor violation of a law, but those who caused hunger and poverty to the millions of people are rewarded instead of being punished.”
If these “Chaudhrys of Gujrat and people like them made their way to the Parliament, would they allow the rule of law to take place,” he questioned.
Mr Khan alleged that the whole of the Punjab administration was working to get Chaudhary Pervez Ellahi elected and then make him the chief minister.
He promised to give a big boost to the national economy by inviting investment from overseas Pakistanis. “The 40 million overseas Pakistanis earn $45 billion a year, and if they saw the rule of law in Pakistan they would invest here and virtually change the entire economic setup of the country”.
The PTI candidate for NA-48 Islamabad (urban), Ahmed Raza Kasuri, called upon the people to elect honest leadership to end all sufferings of the nation.
