PTI chief Imran terms TV anchors a saleable commodity | Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF)

Pakistan Press Foundation

PTI chief Imran terms TV anchors a saleable commodity

Pakistan Press Foundation

ISLAMABAD: PTI Chairman Imran Khan on Monday alleged that some TV anchors, who gave wrong figures about the strength of his sit-in, were a saleable commodity.

He told his supporters here that certain TV anchors, who took money, wrongly claimed that a few thousand people had attended the PTI sit-in. “Whether the supporters are a few thousand or a few hundred, I ask them why 30,000 policemen have been brought here?”

There was a significant increase in deployment of police personnel on various roads leading to the sit-in venue i.e. the Parade Ground.

Imran alleged that the government had given massive advertisements to newspapers. He also alleged that a bridge, at the cost of Rs2.5 billion, was being constructed for a sugar mill owned by the prime minister.

“Balochistan Chief Minister Abdul Malik Baloch also won won the match, saying Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was committing mistakes out of fear prior to his inevitable ‘match defeat’.

Speaking to his supporters here at the party’s sit-in on the 33rd day, Imran contended that Nawaz taking wrong decisions, as he had reached a particular stage of defeat.

There was a significant increase in deployment of the police personnel on various roads leading to the sit-in venue i.e. the Parade Ground. He urged the Chief Justice of Pakistan to take notice of, what he called, the on-going terrorism against his peaceful supporters, who had the legal and constitutional right to agitate peacefully.

Imran asserted that even if Nawaz Sharif brought 150,000 policemen to Islamabad, he would not leave the sit-in unless the prime minister stepped down for alleged poll rigging.

The PTI chairman vowed to get the President House vacated on assuming power in next general election. He again slammed the prime minister for heavy spending on his lifestyle from the public exchequer.

He alleged the lands of the powerful were saved by inundating lands of the poor people and charged that public could not be befooled by wearing long shoes and getting photographed while standing in water.

Imran maintained that had the recommendations of the Justice Mansoor Commission implemented, losses due to floods could have been far lesser.

He gave a call for a huge sit-in on Friday and claimed after that event, Nawaz would not be able to sleep, as already he was facing problem.

The PTI chairman regretted that without any justification, an FIR had been registered against him for getting released illegally arrested workers.

He claimed not a single out of five main characteristics of democracy were seen in Pakistan and it was because of massive corruption and misrule; 6 million Pakistanis during the last 30 years had gone abroad for jobs, including doctors and engineers, whereas 2.7 million had left the country permanently.

“All those joining the sit-in here are Pakistan’s heroes, as they have come out for a change and to build a new Pakistan, free of corruption, nepotism and monarchy,” he noted.

Imran claimed that because of the sit-in, the chains of masses’ slavery were being smashed and insisted the nation would have to raise its voice against injustice and excesses to build a new Pakistan.

He pledged that there would be no violence from either his supporters or those being led by Tahirul Qadri. “I have talked to Allama Qadri, who has assured me that peaceful protests will continue till Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif resigns,” he said.

He pointed out that he had visited the flood-hit areas of Jhang, where people chanted ‘Go Nawaz Go’ slogans. “Nawaz Sharif is going to lose this match soon. He is tacking decisions based on fear,” he alleged. He claimed now even women had started chanting slogans for removal of Nawaz.

Yet again turning his guns against the former chief justice, Imran alleged that Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry was the ‘Mir Jafar’ of judiciary.

“I am not going anywhere from here without taking resignation of Nawaz Sharif,” he said. “Some people claim there are some 500 people at the sit-in. I want to ask why 30,000 policemen have been deployed here,” Imran maintained.

The News