Says would not allow horse trading in Senate election, misuse of public mandate, stress government for on-ground steps to bring culprits of Shikarpur blast, Baldia blaze to book, facilitate common man
KARACHI, Feb 12 (INP): Chairman Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan Thursday lashed out at government for preferring personal, political interests after coming into power and neglecting masses. He said that his party will not allow horse trading in Senate election and those found involved in such practices would exposed and brought to court of justice.
Talking to media persons after condoling with the bereaved families of Shikarpur Imambargah blast on here, Imran Khan said that masses give mandate to public representatives for resolving their problems but they after coming into power forget their voters and get engaged in making money and safeguarding personal interests at the cost of public money and national exchequers.
He said that how could Sharif’s and Zardari’s take the country out of the prevailing crises when they spend most of their time abroad on foreign official tours costing billions of rupees to national exchequer and the said money if spent on development projects can help in resolving many issues.
The PTI chairman said that all political forces during All Parties Conference (APC) gave mandate to the federal government to deal with menace of extremism and terrorism but what it did in this regard as war on terror can’t be won through military operations only and it needs measures to curb the root causes behind these menaces.
He questioned how could be militancy tackled when political parties themselves have militant wings. He also expressed surprise over government for not taking action despite report of Joint Investigation Team (JIT) into BaldiaTown carnage which claimed lives of about 268 workers and not bringing the culprits of Shikarpura Imambargah blast to book.
Imran Khan said that his party will support the Shikarpur Shuhada Committee’s long march scheduled on February 15 from Shikarpur to the Chief Minister House in Karachi to put pressure on provincial government to arrest the culprits behind the Shikarpur imambargah blast. The caretaker of Shikarpur’s Masjid-o-Imambargah Karbala-i-Moulla refused financial aid from Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah and only demanded answers as to why action was not taken against the perpetrators.
Khan further said that there are two reasons as to why people are barbarically killed on sectarian grounds. Firstly, he explained, the police force had been rendered completely ineffective and had been turned into a political force for exacting political revenge. He gave the example of PTI’s Larkana rally where many party leaders had been prosecuted.
Khan also gave the example of Punjab. “Ejaz Chaudhry was a good man as long as he was in the PML-N, but had cases registered against him once he joined the PTI,” he said.
He said people are afraid of police, adding that they were also scared of leaving their homes.
“It is time to improve the police force; I can say with pride that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has been completely depoliticised. If we don’t improve the police force, security cannot improve.”
Khan said that the second reason as to why violence continues is because the governments “have links with terrorists”. “The case is different in tribal areas, sectarian issues in Sindh are different, Balochistan has a different scenario as does Karachi,” said the PTI chief. Khan further discussed the situation of interior Sindh, stating that the people have no rights and their dignity has been killed.
“The state of interior Sindh as I have witnessed in the past 18 years, I have never seen such a deplorable state any where else in the world,” he lamented.
“Where does the money given to Sindh under the National Finance Commission (NFC) disappear?” Khan questioned as he alleged that the leadership takes all the funds and does not let it trickle down to the masses.
Talking about the Senate elections, the PTI leader said: “How can the PPP contest on four senate seats in Khyber Pakhtunkhawa when they have a total of three MPAs?”
He said that the masses are protectors of democracy and urged people to protest against those MPAs who had received votes on the basis of one party, but later voted for candidates of other parties during Senate elections.
“My message to the people of Sindh is that be prepared, we are coming to Sindh and will bring new people to replace the tried and tested faces,” said Khan.
He added that PTI will start campaigning for the implementation of direct elections of senators.
INP/SB/AJ
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