Imran tsunami sweeps Karachi

Tens of thousands of people turned out at the first-ever public meeting of Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan in Karachi on Sunday, the 136th birth anniversary of founder of Pakistan, Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah.Imran Khan said that as per the wishes of the founder of the nation Quaid-e-Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnah he would make Pakistan an Islamic welfare state in which justice to all and curbing of corruption would be the topmost priority. “Khalafat-e-Rashida was the first welfare state, which was based on justice and humanity,” he said while addressing his first ever huge public meeting in Bagh-e-Quaid, adjacent to the mausoleum of Quaid-e-Azam, in Karachi.Khan said he had decided not to criticise any political party in this meeting but added that he would still ask Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif to play with him the ten-over match before the latter did not have any team left with him. “I also wanted to play a match with President Asif Ali Zardari but he is retired hurt. Zardari didn’t have too many days to remain in power.”Imran urged Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry to stand ground on his mission. Those, he said, who don’t want justice to prevail, are conspiring against the chief judge. “The tigers of the PTI stand with him.”Besides, former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi a large number of PTI leaders addressed the meeting.Qureshi said there was no possibility of imposition of marital as claimed by Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani. “The judiciary has buried the doctrine of necessity for ever, ruling out any chance of military rule.”Addressing the rally, leading politician Makhdoom Javed Hashmi, who joined the PTI on Saturday, repeated ad nauseam that he was a rebel, and led the crowd to chant this slogan repetitively. “I rebel against looter, plunderers, injustices, excesses, and against those who have assets and businesses abroad and whose children study abroad,” he announced amid loud applause. “We have to wage a war against these vices,” he said adding, “I told Imran Khan that he has invited a rebel in his party.” Unveiling his programme, Khan said that he would introduce a strong judicial system, which did not differentiate between poor and rich litigants.In this system, he said, the government would provide lawyers at its expense to those who can’t afford fees of advocates. Since eighty percent of the litigation pertains to disputes over landholding, Khan said, the land record would be computerised. The PTI chief said farmers would be provided highly subsidized electricity and fertilizer like it was done in East Punjab, India. He said through these measures an additional Rs300 billion could be generated. He said special measures would be taken to promote industry.Khan said it was only because of corruption that Pakistani expatriates, who were the real assets of the country, did not invest in their own homeland because of law and order situation in Karachi. He said a Pakistani billionaire (Tariq Chaudhry) from Russia came to Karachi to make a huge investment, but he was kidnapped from the five-star hotel the same day.He got freedom with tremendous difficulty and left the country instantly. Similarly, an overseas Pakistani working in Saudi Arabia bought a plot in Islamabad, but when he came to construct a house, he found that a building was standing there. He went to police to register a case, but instead of hearing him, he was booked.The PTI chief said if voted to power he would eliminate mega corruption within ninety days. However, he said the rectification of the education system would take some time. He lamented that corruption of Rs3 billion was being committed every day.He declared that his party would hold its next public meeting in Quetta on March 23 and offered apology to the people of Balochistan for the injustices and excesses committed to them.Khan said like Quaid-e-Azam he would never steal even a single penny from the government exchequer nor would he bow before anybody or beg from foreign countries. “I will never embarrass my voters.”