No need for any 'Jewish conspiracy' to destabilise Pakistan in Fazl’s presence: Imran
Imran Khan waves to the participants of the Azadi parade in Gilgit-Baltistan on Friday. PTI twitter photo
Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday pooh-poohed the "Azadi March" of the opposition parties and said he would not be cowed down by any amount of protest and would not resign.
While addressing a gathering in Gilgit-Baltistan, he lashed out at his political opponents who have gathered in Islamabad with their thousands of supporters as part of their "Azadi March" led by Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) Maulana Fazlur Rehman. "I will not give them NRO [amnesty], come hell or high water.”
The prime minister targeted Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Fazlur Rehman and Mehmood Khan Achakzai. He said the PML-N and PPP know nothing about "Azadi March" and Fazlur Rehman would offer only one justification that the march is against Jews.
He said Jews don't need to hatch conspiracies in the presence of Maulana Fazlur Rehman. "And somebody Achakzai what is he doing in Azadi March," he said of the Pashtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party (PPP).
Without naming anyone, he said two sons of a former prime minister were involved in corruption of billion of rupees. "And when they are questioned about their corruption, they say they are not Pakistani citizens.”
Imran said they have failed to show even a single piece of paper to prove their innocence. "The flat which I had bought abroad, the Supreme Court held me accountable for 10 months."
The prime minister said he has waged a struggle for 22 years but his opponents think he could be pressured into giving NRO, an acronym for National Reconciliation Ordinance and a term which he often uses to refer to political compromises. "I will send you to jails," he said, adding that his opponents steal the money and park in foreign banks.
The speech was delivered to mark the independence day celebrations in Gilgit-Baltistan. The premier paid special tribute to the martyrs of the region "who laid down their lives for Pakistan multiple times."
"On this day, I especially wish to pay tribute to the youth of Gilgit-Baltistan who sacrificed in Kargil, in the war against terrorism, and the heroes of 1947 and 1948," he said.
"Pakistan is not fully aware of what happened here in 1947, that the people here fought a war for independence, defeated the Dogra rule and got their freedom, and then fought in Skardu and Baltistan and gained independence there the next year in 1948.”
He said that Pakistan is "a special gift granted to us by God." "This means that we are the Prophet Muhammad's (PBUH) ummat. We are the only nation to have been formed on the name of Islam and thus carry a great responsibility on our shoulders. We must emulate the state of Madina. The state which was the Prophet's sunnah," said the premier.
JUI-F chief gives two-day deadline to Imran Khan to quit
Later during the day, Fazlur Rehman warned Imran Khan to resign within two days otherwise the “Azadi March” participants would decide their next line of action including advancing towards the sensitive areas of Islamabad leaving the designated place.
While addressing a gathering of the “Azadi March” at the Sunday Bazaar ground, he said the patience of his followers should not be tested further. "There is no commitment with anyone not to go beyond the appointed place. We are peaceful and if we were disturbed we may enter the prime minister’s house to make arrests.”
After the passage of two days, Rehman said, the next decision would be taken by the participants of the march because their votes were stolen in the 2018 general elections.
Some of the attendees demanded advance towards the D-Chowk to which he said not only he, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leaders Ahsan Iqbal and Khawaja Asif, Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) chief Mehmood Achakzai, Awami National Party (ANP) stalwarts and other top leaders present on the container have heard their call.
All those whom he wanted to hear the demand have also listened to it, he said with his speech continuously punctuated with uproarious slogan chanting urging Imran Khan to go.
Rehman said all the opposition parties shared the demand of the premier’s exit. This government, he said, has to go in any case.
Touching a most important topic, he said he also wants to address the key institutions, which was a thinly veiled reference to the Pakistan army.
"We don’t want confrontation with the institutions, rather we want to strengthen and empower them. But at the same time, we wish to see them impartial and neutral. If we felt that the institutions are standing behind the illegitimate government, we will express our opinion after the expiry of the two-day deadline,” the JUI-F chief warned.
Rehman said the female teachers and doctors have been humiliated and beaten blue. Traders are up in the arms. The entire Pakistan is tortured because of the government policies, he claimed.
He said the media has been subjected to unprecedented curbs. "If curbs on showing us did not go, we will also not accept the bars.”
Before him, Bilawal said that by involving the Pakistan army in conducting elections, the force has been made controversial. Even there were no military troops present inside and outside of the polling stations during the rigged elections held during Musharraf era, he said. "The army belongs to us all and not to the ruling party alone.”
The PPP chief said that there were so comprehensive restrictions on the media that the interviews of Fazlur Rehman, Asif Zardari, Maryam and other opposition leaders could not be shown on televisions.
PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif counted the achievements of the Nawaz Sharif government and said the present regime has destroyed all of them and made the people suffer. He said that there is no option but the exit of Imran Khan as the prime minister.
Other top leaders of the component parties also addressed the Azadi March and attacked the prime minister demanding his resignation.
