LAHORE, April 14: Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf Chairman Imran Khan says the ‘gravest problem’ inflicting the country is the US war on terror, which has claimed tens of thousands of lives so far.

Speaking at a convention of PTI women’s wing here on Saturday, Khan condemned the killing of Shias and described it as the second gravest issue. He said at least 40,000 Pakistani civilians and military men had been killed in the US war on terror, but US ‘protégés’ had reopened Nato supplies. Condemning approval by parliament for reopening the supplies, he said the so-called war on terror only benefited a handful of the ruling elite at the cost of the poor Pakistanis. The war, he said, fuelled extremism in the country.

Talking about sectarianism, he condemned killings of Shias and described such acts as anti-Islam, anti-Pakistan and anti-humanity. He said his party after coming into power would ensure supremacy of law.

He said PTI would ensure rights to women and share in inheritance and provide them protection against cruel relatives. He said he had decided not to remarry. “Now I’ve time only for Pakistan.”

He said PTI tsunami could not be checked because if men of a family were in other parties women and children of that family were in the PTI. He said 90 per cent of students were with the PTI although Shahbaz Sharif was giving them laptops and Asif Zardari was trying to buy their loyalties through the Benazir Income Support Programme.

Former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said women and youth were pioneers of change and both were represented in the convention. He said the PTI could not be defeated even if all other political parties joined hands against it. He urged women to make party’s membership drive a success.

Fauzia Kasuri and Saloni Bokhari also spoke.