Imran vows to remain on roads until polls

PESHAWAR: Former prime minister Imran Khan has said he will remain on the roads until general elections are announced.

He was speaking at a huge public rally in Peshawar on Wednesday night. It was his first public appearance after losing his government as a result of the no-confidence motion in the National Assembly.

During his fiery speech, Imran Khan said he would like to ask some questions from the honourable judges. He said he was imprisoned once for supremacy of law and Constitution. “I never violated the law in my 25 years of political career. But I ask our honourable judges what my crime was for which they had to hold the courts in middle of the night,” he said.

Imran said none of the Pakistani politicians would able to condemn 400 US drone attacks on the country. He said he wanted to ask the establishment if Pakistan’s nuclear weapons were safe in the hands of what he called “corrupt mafias”.

He said he would utilise all his resources to mobilise people across Pakistan against what he termed “an imported government” in the country.

Imran Khan said he would force the government to hold general elections in the country and would remain on roads until they were announced. He thanked the people of Peshawar for always supporting him. He said whenever any prime minister was removed, the people used to distribute sweets. “But in my case, their reaction was completely different.” He said the people of Pakistan took to the streets last Sunday and refused to accept the US-sponsored imported government.

Terming it a defining moment, he said: “We have to decide if we want freedom or slavery. We need to decide if we will become US slaves. We will never accept a foreign-installed government.” He said all those who had constituted the present government were accused of corruption. “The US had insulted us by imposing decoits on us. I will go to each and every part of the country to mobilise the people against this coward government,” he said, adding that Shehbaz Sharif is facing corruption cases of Rs40 billion.

Imran Khan warned the US, saying it was not Pakistan of the 70s to do whatever it wanted to. “It is a new Pakistan where social media has empowered the people and you will not dictate us anymore,” he said. He said he was proud of former deputy speaker Qasim Suri, saying he had rejected the no-confidence motion, as it was a US-backed attempt to dislodge his government.

The former prime minister said he launched his public campaign from Peshawar, the land of brave Pakhtuns. He said the Pakhtuns had suffered heavy losses after Gen Pervez Musharraf joined the US-led war in Afghanistan. “The Pakhtuns lost their near and dear ones in air strikes and drone attacks. They fled their homes and villages because of the air strikes on their villages,” he said.

The former prime minister said the US troops had killed Pakistani soldiers in Salala but they were not even touched.

“We were fighting their war when they had killed our soldiers. And then in Lahore, Raymond Davis shot dead two Pakistanis but he was given a safe passage,” he recalled. Imran said India and Israel had celebrated his ouster from power.

As usual, he was extremely critical of Maulana Fazlur Rahman, saying he doesn’t deserve to be called a Maulana.

There was some mismanagement in the gathering and it was difficult for Imran Khan and other party leaders to reach the stage due to the rush of party workers. The PTI leaders in their speeches said the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had supported the PTI in 2012, and then again in 2018 and would now bring it again into power with a two-thirds majority in the 2023 general elections.

They condemned MNA Noor Alam Khan from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for changing his loyalty. Stage secretary Senator Faisal Javed called Noor Alam Khan a lota and said he would not visit his native city Peshawar owing to strong resistance from the PTI workers. They also blasted Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, former president and Chairman Pakistan Peoples Party Asif Ali Zardari, and Maulana Fazlur Rahman.

Chief Minister Mahmood Khan said the people of Pakistan, particularly the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, would never accept what he termed the imported government. “To me Imran Khan is my prime minister and he will remain the prime minister till the general elections are held. We will stand by our leader Imran Khan,” Mahmood Khan said.

Former interior minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad said the conspiracy was not hatched in six months to remove the government of Imran Khan, as they would now impeach president Dr Arif Alvi. He said they would peacefully bring back Imran Khan to power.

Ex-deputy speaker Qasim Suri told the PTI rally that Imran Khan had lost his government because of his struggle for bringing together the Muslim Ummah. “I have personally seen the letter in which Imran Khan was threatened by the international community. In the same letter, it was mentioned that if the government of Imran Khan was not removed, Pakistan would have to face serious consequences,” Qasim Suri said.

Former defence minister Pervez Khattak welcomed Imran Khan in Peshawar, saying he had a lot of secrets and would share them with the party workers. He said he remained very close to Imran Khan and was aware what had happened in the past few months by some foreign powers to oust him from power. “The crises had started in November 2021 when Imran Khan refused to provide a base to the US forces in Pakistan. In March 2022, our ambassador in the US was called and was told that if Imran Khan’s government was not removed from power through the no-confidence motion, Pakistan would face serious challenges,” Khattak said.

“They say the US is a superpower and our leader Imran Khan is saying that superpower is only Allah Almighty”, he said. He said Maulana Fazlur Rahman had always used religion for power.

Former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi told the party workers who had first congratulated Shehbaz Sharif on becoming prime minister “It was Narendra Modi who had first congratulated. It is strange as Modi had never made a phone call to Imran Khan but he tweeted to congratulate Shehbaz Sharif,” he said.

He said there was nothing common between Maulana Fazlur Rahman and Bilawal Bhutto Zardari. Qureshi said they had sent the letter which he called a “foreign threat” to the Chief Justice of Pakistan for fair investigation.