- Says Javed Hashmi’s statement about judiciary is ‘lie plus’
- Says PTI will not make coalition with any party whose leadership is facing corruption cases
- Says everyone in the country wants peace with India
KARACHI/DUBAI, January 1: Chairman Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan has declared 2017 as the year of justice. Talking to media in Karachi, Imran said, “The year will start with Panamagate and justice will be served.”
He said that PTI will not make coalition with any party whose leadership is facing corruption cases. He said the mental condition of Makhdoom Javed Hashmi is not well, adding that the statement of Hashmi regarding judiciary is ‘lie plus’. He said after conclusion of Panama case in Supreme Court he will visit rural and urban Sindh. Imran hoped that Supreme Court will conduct day to day hearing of Panama leaks issue.
He was speaking to media outside the residence of his friend Tariq Shafi on the last day of his three-day visit to Karachi. Imran Khan said the New Year will begin with Panama Papers and justice will soon be done. He said 2017 is year of justice and justice will start from Panama case. He said when the head of the state commits corruption then he could not anyone from theft. He said a bureaucrat is their special person and money is being looted through this front man.
Calling the current leaders “thieves”, Khan said the nation’s money had been looted but now time has come to end the “theft.” Imran Khan said his visit to Karachi had been successful and he will now pay attention to Sindh. He lamented that he had not been able to pay attention to the province before.
“Because of a lot of things I could not focus on Sindh before. Rigging and other issues held us back from working on Sindh’s issues.”
“But I will now focus on Karachi and rural as well as urban Sindh. I will return to Karachi soon and we will hold a walk to resolve Karachi’s issues,” he pledged.
Imran Khan also took aim at ex-PTI leader Javed Hashmi. “He is not in the right state of mind. He is telling big lies,” Khan said in response to the senior politician’s claims that Imran Khan wanted to bring a “judicial martial law” during the 2014 sit-in in the capital.
The PTI chief added that those violating the party’s disciplines have been expelled and action will soon be taken against a few others.
He vowed to hold a demonstration during his next visit to the metropolis. Your city will soon turn into Mohenjo Daro, if you don’t speak and struggle for your rights, he said.
Meanwhile, Imran Khan in an exclusive interview with Khaleej Times said that everyone in the country wants peace with India. The cricketer-turned-politician who met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi last year, said: “I am a bit disturbed by the way Prime Minister Modi has tried to isolate Pakistan rather than encouraging the relationship forward. All of us, I mean, everyone in Pakistan wants peace with India. Anyone who says otherwise is wrong.”
India and Pakistan have been at loggerheads since a group of gunmen killed 19 Indian soldiers in September at an army camp in Kashmir, an attack India blamed on Pakistan-based militants.
But Khan said that “the hallmark of good leaders is that they should resist this pressure of going back to hostilities in the event of a terrorist attack. I think the responsibility lies with the bigger country. India is a huge country and it could have done more to improve the relationship with Pakistan”.
“I think trade with all the neighbours should be Pakistan’s priority. And trade with India and China would be the best way,” he suggested.
Leaders of the opposition Pakistan People’s Party Asif Ali Zardari and Bilawal Bhutto have announced they would be entering the parliament after winning by-elections. And Imran Khan, who says he is fighting for a corruption-free and a just Pakistan, has hinted at being ready for a joint struggle to make Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif accountable for “stashing billions in offshore accounts”.
“As far as the joint opposition against Panama goes, we were all together in the assembly.” We wanted the prime minister to answer those questions. And on that issue we’ll probably be together in the parliament with all the opposition,” said Khan while making it clear that “there is no question of an electoral alliance” with the PPP.
A former Pakistan cricket team captain who won his country the World Cup in 1992, he is unhappy about the way the cricket affairs are being run in Pakistan. “Pakistani cricket is very poorly managed. The structure is probably one of the worst anywhere in the world. Because we do not have a proper cricket structure, proper management in Pakistan, we cannot tap into this huge talent.”
Khan, whose two marriages have ended in divorce, says he is not sure about a third one in 2017.-Agencies
