Imran Khan @ Dubai Fundraising Dinner

PTI to stir political tsunami in Pakistan soon: Imran

By Jamil Khan @ Gulf Today-Sharjah, February 23, 2012

DUBAI: Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan has warned the country’s two major parties that despite all their efforts to stop the juggernaut of the PTI, they will be unable to halt the massive political tsunami triggered by the party.
He made these statements on the sidelines of the fundraising gala dinner he hosted at the Atlantis Hotel in Dubai to raise funds for Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre in Lahore, Pakistan. A number of prominent personalities from the world of cricket and showbiz also attended the dinner including Sunil Gavaskar, Pooja Bedi, Mudassar Nazar, Waqar Younis, prominent Pakistani businessman Saddrudin Hashwani, Imran Chaudhry, Arshad Khan and others.
Khan said that soon the nation would hear major good news from the PTI as major political figures join his party. Khan did not disclose the name of politicians who were ready to jump on to the bandwagon of the PTI.
To a question, Khan said that on March 23, they were going to hold another major rally in Quetta, the capital city of Balochistan province which has been a disturbed territory for the last many years especially since 2006 after the killing of Baloch leader Nawab Akbar Bugti by military forces. “We are in contact with all tribal leaders who were either outside the country or hidden in mountains,” he added.
He said that after the passing of the 20th Amendment, there is no opposition in Pakistan. “The two parties PPP and PML-N portray that they are the only parties in the country to decide the future of nation. How can people trust them as they were in power when 45 per cent fake votes were cast and on the other hand 37 million votes were not registered. I’m forecasting today if they all come together to stop PTI , they will not succeed to halt it and its tsunami,” he said.
Responding a question, he said, “After Dec.25, we have slowed down deliberately from 5th gear to 2nd gear in our political activities. We are in the process of strengthening our party structure, finalising the party constitution, membership campaign, making policy papers to address major issues and such other activities,” he added.
He condemned the US Senate for discussing the Blochistan issue. “The US Senate has no right to discuss Balochistan. It is our internal issue and we have the capacity to solve by ourselves,” he said and added that “this government has produced through NRO (National Reconciliation Ordinance) by the US and is serving their interests in Pakistan. The government has accepted the deaths of 40,000 army personnel in America’s war besides losing $50 billion in the last 4-year tenure of this government,” he said.
He also termed the granting of voting rights to overseas Pakistanis by the Election Commission of Pakistan a big step to involve the powerful Pakistani expat community. The credit goes to PTI who filed a petition in Supreme Court for this and got the right for thousands of Pakistanis residing outside the country. “We will bring the powerful expat community in Pakistan to invest in the country to get rid of the Patwari system which has become the qabza (land grabber) mafia and is stoping foreign investment,” he added.
He said that “so far the country’s economic policies were benefiting only 1 per cent of the population but we will address this issue on a serious basis. In my point of view, it is the need to design economic policies to focus the 50 per cent of the population including the poor and middle class to bring the country on the right track,” he added.
Responding to a question on talks with the Taliban in Qatar, Khan said, “We have been suggesting a political solution with Taliban for the last 8 years and no one paid attention. Now the world has realised this and started talks with Taliban in Qatar which is a positive step.
“I was given the name of Taliban Khan when we suggested political solution of this issue as  I know this tribal area very well and have written a travel book,” he said.
End

~ by jamilkhan on February 23, 2012.