MULTAN, May 20(ABC): PTI Chairman and former prime minister Imran Khan on Friday said that he will announce the date for his party’s much-awaited long to Islamabad between May 25 to May 29. He, however, did not specify a date.
Khan made the announcement while addressing a jalsa in Multan. It was expected that the PTI chairman would share the exact date of the long march today, but he did not do so.
Throughout this month, the PTI chairman had been holding a series of jalsas across the country to mobilise the masses against the alleged “imported” government and to demand a fresh election. The Multan rally was the last one of the series before the party’s planned long march to Islamabad.
At the beginning of his address, the former prime minister thanked the people of Multan for giving him a warm welcome and added that he always prayed to Allah to awaken the conscience of the people of Pakistan so that the nation “does not bow before thieves, robbers, mafia or a superpower.”
He also thanked the woman and youth of Multan for attending his rally, adding that no revolution could be “successful” unless and until the women and youth partake in it.
The former prime minister said that the fear and humiliation of losing jobs “turns a big man into a small one”, and added that till the shackles of such fear are not broken, the country will not turn into a great nation.
The PTI chairman added that Prophet (PBUH) helped Muslims break those shackles and helped them rule the world. Providing more examples, he explained that no one turned into a big businessman until they overcame their fears and no soldier received any medals by fearing death.
Khan said that when Edmund Hillary decided to climb Mount Everest, he first conquered his fear. Similarly, the “corrupt” leaders ruling this country have imposed this fear that if we do not polish America’s boots, we cannot progress.
The PTI chairman deplored that, unfortunately, the country always had to witness leadership that bowed before the United States, adding that
“such demeanour bought bad repute to the country”.
The former prime minister maintained that “this was the reason that a conspiracy was carried out to oust him from office”. He added that the conspiracy was hatched by those who “looted” the country for 30 years.
Khan went on to say that the Opposition — during his premiership — tried to conspire against him so that he could be forced to forgive their corruption cases and give another National Reconciliation Order (NRO) to them.
“If I would have forgiven their cases, this would have meant that I had not become the premier based on an ideology or to run a movement for justice. It would have meant that I had entered politics just to win a seat,” he said. “I would have been like former president General Pervez Musharraf, who forgave corrupt politicians just to save his seat”