KARACHI, May 28: Chief of the Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf Imran Khan has accused the present military-led regime of mortgaging the country’s sovereignty to the United States by denying its people the unbridled justice and democratic rights. He called for comprehensive accountability of the regime.

Speaking at the Karachi Press Club in its Meet the Press programme on Saturday, the Mr Khan agreed with the proposition that the parliament must scrutinize defence spending threadbare and ask the regime specifically to give details of how much the national funds had been spent on the military operations in Waziristan where many military personnel and civilians were killed as the rulers carried out the American agenda.

Imran Khan said it was time to stand up and be counted by speaking the truth, and added that during the upcoming national budget session, he would do just that by raising all vital issues.

Mr Khan also referred to a report prepared by the American CIA’s think tank premising that in 10 years Pakistan would disintegrate, and said that if that had to be proved wrong, then everything had to be said openly in the parliament.

Mr Khan accused the government of having miserably failed in improving the quality of life of the common man and investing in human development owing to which the ordinary people were not getting basic amenities like clean drinking water, health care, education, justice, etc.

He deplored that the sets of rules and facilities for general public were different from those meant for the elite.

“Everything is for the privileged, be it education, job or health care. There is massive corruption in the system of dispensation of justice which is evident from the performance of police and dealing with people in courts. A large number of people is rotting in prisons without trial since long but the corrupt is getting away with his deeds and enjoying official patronage.”

The PTI chief said that corrupt practices of those who would agree to toe the regime’s line were either overlooked by the NAB or their cases were kept dormant.

In this context, he made mention of the row between the Sindh chief minister and his sacked revenue minister, who was accused of swindling Rs9 billion. Mr Khan claimed that both the rivals in the dispute had reached an ‘understanding’ and nobody was now bothered about the public money. This, he said, reflected the true character of the regime.

Imran Khan was of the view that Pakistan’s salvation was in the supremacy of the law, and not in double standards. The county he said would not prosper if we continued to frame laws to protect one man, as was done in the case of 17th constitutional amendment.

“Since there is no rule of law, and president and prime minister do not consider themselves accountable to people, they are squandering public money. Spending of Rs4 billion on the import of new vehicles for the VIPs is an example. For a poor country like Pakistan, this is horrendous as people are living in subhuman conditions and poverty is on the increase.”

Replying to a question, Mr Khan said that the Washington Times cartoon had very aptly described the character of the military regime which, he alleged, had crossed all limits only to appease the US. The regime was even acting against its own people and handing them over to Americans in order to muster US support for the dictatorship.

Imran Khan said that instead of supporting dictators, Washington should support democracy and the parties struggling for the restoration of democratic dispensation. “Whatever is happening in Waziristan is part of the regime’s policy of submissiveness to the USA.”

Referring to the desecration of the Holy Quran by some American soldiers at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, Mr Khan said that such unacceptable things only strengthened the perception that it was being deliberately done to malign and insult Islam and Muslims. The act, he added, also raised many questions about the professed war on terrorism. He demanded that there should be truly independent investigation of the incident and nothing short of that would be acceptable.

On the question of the NFC Award, Mr Khan said that it should not be determined on the basis of population only. Poverty must be a strong benchmark, he suggested, indicating that Balochistan had been suffering a lot due to poverty. Such factors should be taken into consideration, he added.

Mr Khan called for reviving the Council of Common Interests as an independent institution. He also stressed on a national consensus before deciding about the construction of big dams.