Lahore: Despite Pakistan cutting off Lahore from the rest of the country and placing containers in the city, former prime minister Imran Khan managed to hold a massive rally at Minar-e-Pakistan on Saturday night. The country’s media did not telecast the event due to “pressure” from the PML-N-led government. The government has the support of the army. Khan addressed the rally from behind bullet-proof glass. Khan has been attacked in the past. A large number of women also gathered in the historical park. To thwart Khan’s rally, the police had blocked all major roads leading to the Minar-e-Pakistan by placing containers and barricades. Due to these hindrances, people had to walk long distances to reach the venue.
Imran Khan slams the PML-N-led government and its handlers (indirectly the army) for arresting and torturing over 2,000 Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party workers ahead of the rally Said that one thing is clear that whoever is in power, a message will go to him today that the passion of the people cannot be suppressed by barriers and containers. He told those in power that he (Khan) was ready to sit at home if he had an agenda to get the country out of its economic rut.
Khan also said that the way the corridors of power in Pakistan are behaving today, it seems that Imran Khan is the only problem of the country. Khan also presented his party’s blueprint for economic prosperity, stressing that the country needed to take tough decisions to improve its tax collections and exports. He said that a major surgery is needed to put our house in order. Overseas Pakistanis will bring their dollars into the country if they are encouraged. He said that out of 22 crore Pakistanis, only 25 lakh people pay tax.
Khan, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief, said a gang of thieves was imposed on the country after his government was toppled in April last year. He said that the number of cases registered against him has completed a century and may even cross 150. The poor in this country spend their whole life fighting false cases. Pakistan has no future if there is no rule of law. Khan said that real freedom will come only when the rule of law is established in the country. The 70-year-old PTI chairman Khan has criticized Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for not getting relief despite begging worldwide.
Taking a jibe at Shahbaz, Khan said that former army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa had said that he used to scold Shahbaz for 40 minutes and he would not respond and listen patiently. This is what happens when you (Shahbaz) come to power through the back door. Khan, a former cricketer, said it was the first time he felt what Palestinians felt. Khan said, that they (the government) have registered 40 cases of terrorism against me. Will the country accept that Imran Khan is a terrorist? Khan said the only agenda of the government and his masters was to stop him from coming back to power.
