US drones to be shot down after May 11: Imran
The News International
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SWABI/MARDAN/BUNER/CHARSADDA/NOWSHERA: Declaring his opponents as American stooges, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan said on Saturday that US drones will be shot down if they appeared after May 11.
Imran said the PTI’s ‘tsunami’ would sweep away the political actors in the general elections.
The PTI chief addressed five public meetings on Saturday as his helicopter first landed in Buner for a rally at Nawagai village and then flew to Topi in Swabi district for another rally. His next stops were Charsadda, Mardan and Nowshera where big crowds waited for him.
His last stop was Peshawar where he opened his election office at a hotel. Imran is the PTI’s candidate against ANP’s Ghulam Ahmad Bilour, PPP’s Zulfiqar Afghani and JI’s Shabbir Ahmad Khan in the National Assembly constituency, NA-1 Peshawar.
Two other engagements of Imran in Peshawar at Dilazak Road and Gulbahar couldn’t be held. One of the reasons was stated to be scuffle between young PTI and student activists.
Full of confidence and hopeful of a good showing at the polls, he took on all his electoral rivals and termed them slaves of the US.
Addressing the public meeting near Topi Bypass in Swabi district, Imran Khan said: “The opponents would face defeat on May 11 and those who labelled us as Jews and Qadiani’s would not be able to re-enter parliament to devour public money,” he said.
The PTI chief said he has been studying the Holy Quran to understand its meaning. “I have never worked for the Jewish lobby. I haven’t referred to the Qadianis as Muslims. It’s a propaganda against me unleashed by those who are America’s slaves,” he stressed.
He criticised the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, President Asif Ali Zardari, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) head Nawaz Sharif, Shahbaz Sharif and Awami National Party (ANP) president Asfandyar Wali Khan and termed them political actors and American stooges.
“If we are voted to power, there would be no drone attacks in Pakistan. We won’t accept dictation from the US. The PTI government would formulate an independent foreign policy,” he maintained.
He called Nawaz Sharif a cowardly leader and once again challenged him to a live debate on a TV channel.
Imran Khan pledged to introduce a new local government system and resolve property disputes through the local jirga system of the Pakhtuns.
“We will provide justice to all sections of society and make a new Pakistan according to the wishes of Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah,” he added.
Imran declared that he was leading a “tsunami” of revolutionary changes and reforms, pledging to convert bad governance into good governance, improve education standards, resolve the energy crisis and introduce tax reforms in every field. He pledged to undertake work on a war footing to revive the country’s economy.
Meanwhile, Imran told a big public rally at the Railway Station Ground in Mardan and at Nowshera that Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Asif Zardari were supporting the Jewish lobby.
He added that WikiLeaks had disclosed that Maulana Fazlur Rehman had requested the American ambassador to help install him as prime minister and he would do their bidding.
He said Nawaz Sharif and Maulana Fazlur Rehman had no courage to pull the country out of the slavery of the US.
The PTI chief added that during the five-year rule of the ANP-led government in the province, thousands of innocent Pakhtuns were killed. He said the establishment of peace in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Fata was one of his top priorities.
“Corruption has destroyed all the institutions, led to price hike, and made the rich richer and the poor poorer. I have made a list of 500 corrupt people in Pakistan and if voted to power I would hold them accountable,” he declared. He added that thieves were protecting fellow thieves in politics and other fields and making the corrupt people accountable had become difficult.
Imran said over 25 percent PTI tickets were awarded to young people under the age of 35 because youth were the real strength of the party. He appealed to the youth to come out from their homes on May 11 and bring people to cast their votes in favour of the PTI.
Referring to the PPP and PML-N, he said the time has come to end the rule of those who had been taking turns to rule this country since long.
At a well-attended meeting at Nawagai in Buner, the PTI chairman said his party upon coming into power would establish an efficient local government system and development funds would not be given to the assembly members.
Imran said he wanted to change the system, not the faces. “All the looted money would be refunded to the public exchequer from the corrupt ruling elite who would be held accountable if the PTI gained power,” he warned.
“The ANP government shed the blood of Pakhtuns over the past five years. What would the champions of Pakhtuns do now if they are voted to power again?” he questioned.
He argued that Fazlur Rehman proved to be the ‘friendly opposition’ to military ruler General (retd) Pervez Musharraf and took undue advantage of his party’s position.
At another rally in Charsadda, Imran said during the ANP-PPP government around 50,000 innocent citizens were killed in the so-called war on terror.
“The Taliban were called Mujahideen when they were fighting against the then Soviet Union in Afghanistan and now when the US occupied Afghanistan the Taliban have become terrorists,” the PTI chief said, adding that the prevailing crises were due to the wrong policies of the previous governments.
