our correspondent
The News. Monday, September 26, 2011
GUJRANWALA: Pakistanis would put up the most fierce resistance if the United States sends its forces to Waziristan, Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf Chief Imran Khan warned on Sunday.
Addressing a public meeting at Liaquat Park, he said President Zardari and his government have failed to provide amenities to the poor people, check price-hike and eliminate corruption from the country. He said the country was sinking but the president was busy in robbing its people.
He said the change was imminent and it could not be averted. Khan said he had always opposed subservience to the USA and deploying the Pakistan Army for the cause of the United States. He said Pakistan had no role in the 9/11 incident and, therefore, it needed not fight others’ wars. He said Pakistan had already suffered huge losses of life and property in fighting the US war.
Khan said Pakistan’s greedy leaders were selling their conscience for US dollars. He said America was pitted against Afghan people and it was set to face defeat ultimately. He termed President Zardari a coward leader and said the nation needed self-respecting brave leaders.
He pledged to rid the country of American slavery. The PTI chief appealed to the people raise funds for the flood-stricken people of Sindh. Our reporter adds from Lahore: PTI Chairman Imran Khan said the US was blaming Pakistan for its defeat in Afghanistan but the nation would foil any bid meant to challenge our sovereignty.
Imran lamented that the country’s leaders were busy shopping in Dubai and London and they has no concern with the sufferings of this country. Due to their corruption and lack of governance today Pakistan is facing all types of pressures internally and externally.
Published: September 25, 2011
Khan said the US was blaming Pakistan for its failure in Afghanistan. Govt should reject all US aid. PHOTO: AFP/FILE
GUJRANWALA: PTI chairman Imran Khan reiterated on Sunday that the country needed a brave leader, and the War on Terror was benefiting the government instead of the people.
Addressing a rally in Gujranwala, Khan said that the War on Terror had cost Pakistan $70 billion and resulted in the loss of over 35,000 lives. He said the US was blaming Pakistan for their own failure in Afghanistan.
Referring to President Asif Ali Zardari, Khan said that the nation needed strong leadership unlike the present one that is not standing up to the US, despite all their allegations in recent times.
Khan said the government should reject US aid.
He said that if his party came into power, they would first reject US aid and fight this war on their terms. He added that it was this aid that was giving the miiltants the perception that we were fighting the US War on Terror and hence attacked us.
Speaking on the floods, he said that the president went to flood hit areas for a ‘photo opportunity’ and then disappeared.
Khan said that while the president was busy travelling the world and “amassing wealth”, it was the army that was fighting the insurgency in the tribal areas, controlling the situation in Balochistan, and the rangers who were conducting operations in Karachi.
On Waziristan, he urged the nation to unite against any possible US operation in the area. The US has been pressuring Pakistan to conduct an operation in North Waziristan to clear it of militant hideouts.
Khan said that come election year the people should not vote for a “coward leader”, as Pakistan was a dignified nation.
Khan said he would make an important announcement in the coming days and give the nation good news soon.
The Nation. Published: September 26, 2011
LAHORE - Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf Chairman Imran Khan has said if the Americans attack Waziristan, the entire nation will stand united against the US forces.
Addressing a big public meeting at spacious Liaquat Bagh, Gujranwala on Sunday the cricketer-turned-politician said Pakistan did not need US financial assistance and would prefer to live within its own means.
Imran Khan’s address comes at a crucial time when US-Pakistan relations are touching a new low amid Washington’s allegations that Islamabad is exporting terror to Afghanistan and Haqqani network is a veritable arm of the ISI. The PTI chief said the US was busy in Afghanistan to fight so-called terror war, a country which had never bowed to the British or the Soviet rule. He said the Afghans would never tolerate foreign forces in their country at any cost. He reiterated that the country needed a brave leader, and the war on terror was benefiting the government instead of the people. He said the US was blaming Pakistan for its own failure in Afghanistan. Referring to President Zardari, Khan said the nation needed strong leadership unlike the present one that was not standing up to the US, despite all their allegations levelled recently.
Imran said the perpetrators of suicide attacks believed the government was fighting the so-called war on terror taking money from the US as reward. He said once Pakistan stopped receiving financial assistance from the US and quit the war on terror, those targeting the innocent people would also give up their deadly activities. He was critical of what he called ‘dollar worshippers’ who had brought Pakistan to a position that US officials were hurling threats, forgetting the sacrifices the Islamic republic had rendered over the past one decade. He said the US allegations reflected the failure of those in power.
Imran said at a time when 140,000 US troops were in Afghanistan it was simply not possible for some people from Pakistan to cross over to the war-ravaged country and hit targets there.
Critical of the performance of the PPP-led coalition, the PTI chief said that the days of the present setup had been numbered. “The time for your departure has come,” he said referring to President Zardari.
Referring to the long march for the restoration of judges, which was called off at Gujranwala after signals from Islamabad that the government had agreed to reinstate all judges sacked by Gen Musharraf, the PTI chief said the wind of change had started blowing and it would not stop at Gujranwala.
The PTI chief said he would go the whole hog to bring about the real change.
Imran said once the PTI came in power, it would not take loans and would instead exploit the national resources to meet all requirements. “The US will be told in plain terms that its aid is not required,” he said.
About the situation in Karachi, he said PTI alone was in a position to restore peace there as, unlike the PPP, MQM and the ANP, it did not have a militant wing. He said a law would be enacted to rein in all militants without any discrimination.
He pledged that the PTI would set up a neutral police force.
Expressing his resolve to uproot corruption and launch a fair accountability process, Imran said he himself and other PTI office-bearers would be the first to face it. Thereafter, he said, the net would be extended to all others.
He believed that no major party was in a position to go for an indiscriminate accountability because their leaders had accounts in foreign banks. He named President Zardari and Nawaz Sharif in particular for this purpose.
“Those who cannot hold themselves accountable cannot be expected to proceed against others,” the PTI chief said.
He said the PTI would collect taxes from all the taxable and would ensure everybody declare his assets.
He made his supporters commit that they would not vote for any leader who was keeping his assets abroad.
Our staff reporter from Ferozewala adds: Addressing a gathering in Muridke on Sunday while on his way to Gujranwala, PTI Chairman Imran Khan called for holding mid-term elections in the country for, according to him, the present rulers had lost their credibility among the people.
Accompanied by a huge convoy, Imran said rulers, due to their unwise and unrealistic policies, had plunged the country into chaos.
Dengue fever, disastrous floods and US govt pressure are due to the rulers’ senseless policies, he said.
They are busy in plundering the national wealth, besides making no policies for the betterment of people and the country, he added.
* PTI chief says after coming to power, his party will liberate country from shackles of US, establish peace, harmony in Karachi and other cities of country
Daily Times. Staff Report
GUJRANWALA: If the US army attacked Waziristan, the whole nation would give a united response and counter it, and separation from the so-called US “war on terror” would end suicide attacks and jihad in Pakistan, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chairman Imran Khan said on Sunday.
Addressing a rally in connection with his “Remove rules and save country” campaign attended by 50,000 PTI activists and members at the Liaqat Park, Khan said that he had asked General (r) Pervez Musharraf to refrain from launching an army operation in Waziristan but he did so on the behest of the US and as a result we have lost 35,000 men. He blamed the “dollar-loving Pakistani rulers” for the mass killings of Pakistanis.
He said that the war on terror belongs to the US and not Pakistan, adding that the policies of the country were not in favour of national sovereignty, as a result of which American Army head Mike Mullen was issuing threats to our country today.
He asked President Asif Ali Zardari to inform the nation about his role under such crucial circumstances and said that our nation needed leaders and not ‘geedars’.
The PTI chief said that after coming to power, the PTI would liberate the country from the shackles of the US besides establishing peace and harmony in Karachi and other cities of the country. He said that the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), Pakistan People’s Party, Awami National Party all had armed wings in Karachi and it was only the PTI that was working peacefully in the port city and had the capacity to establish peace in the densely populated city of the country.
He said that the country had fallen prey to the recent floods and President Zardari had gone to Dubai for shopping.
He urged the people of Gujranwala not to vote for those leaders in the upcoming general elections who were subservient to US officials, adding that the country would soon experience a positive change, which will help Pakistan, stand on a firm footing besides strengthening its economy. Imran said that self-respecting Pakistanis garner respect from outside. He blamed the US for suicide attacks and terrorist activities on Pakistani soil.
The PTI chief said that the US was bombing the Afghan people, instead of fighting against the Taliban in the neighbouring country.
Jang Lahore (September 26, 2011)
Express News, Lahore (September 26, 2011)
Daily Waqt, Lahore (September 26, 2011)
