Rawalpindi jalsa: Imran Khan announces to quit all assemblies

RAWALPINDI: Former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has announced that his party has decided to quit all the assemblies, ARY News reported on Saturday.

“We will not be part of this country’s political system. We have decided to quit all assemblies,” former premier said while addressing the party workers and supporters at Rawalpindi Jalsa.

Imran Khan said that his party had decided not to go to Islamabad to avert any destruction or chaos. “I would announce the date of resignations after consulting chief ministers and the parliamentary party,” he announced.

It is pertinent to mention here that the Imran Khan-led party is ruling the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province while they are also in power in Punjab through a coalition with Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q).

At the outset of his address, the former prime minister urged the party workers and supporters to free themselves from the fear of death if they wanted to live freely.

Referring to the incident of Imam Hussain’s (A.S) martyrdom, Imran Khan said that the people of Kufa did not come to his help due to fear of reprisal from the authorities. “Fear makes an entire nation into slaves”.

The former prime minister said everyone had advised him when he was leaving from Rawalpindi not to do so due to his injured leg as well as the threats.

He claimed that “three criminals” — those he accuses of being behind the Wazirabad attack — were waiting for another assassination attempt. He said he had a close encounter with death, calling on the gathered crowd to make their faith stronger.

While praising the nation, Imran Khan said: “Many prime ministers come and go but public never came out in such large number like they gathered here for me”.

“There would be no difference between animals and humans if people of the country accepted the rulers who came to power through ‘NRO’,” he added.

‘Rule of Law’

He reiterated that overseas Pakistanis were standing with him because they are aware of the importance of the rule of law. “Pakistan is in a difficult situation today due to the absence of rule of law” he added.

Criticising the Sharifs and Zardaris, he said these two families were responsible for weakening Pakistan’s institutions in a bid to protect their “looted wealth”.

He further said that prosperous societies had a rule of law while developing countries were afflicted by no regard for the law which explained their problems.

‘PTI government’s performance’

The former premier noted that his government had successfully revived the country’s ailing economy despite all challenges including Covid-19. He recalled his government’s economic performance and initiatives such as the health card.

He noted that his party was the first to realise the dangers of climate change and work in this regard. “My government had planted trees under the Billion Tree Tsunami and Ten Billion Tree Tsunami programmes to tackle climate change,” he added.

“During the Covid-19, the opposition relentlessly criticised my government and demanded to impose a lockdown,” he said. However, he said, the then-opposition could not respond to his questions about what would happen to daily wagers and labourers.

Earlier in the day, PTI Chairman Imran Khan reached Rawalpindi from Lahore to lead the long march. The former premier landed at the Nur Khan airbase in a chartered plane from Lahore.

Imran Khan will appear for the first time in public after being injured in a gun attack.

Convoys of PTI leaders workers and supporters are making their way to Rawalpindi on Saturday for the ‘climax’ of the Haqeeqi Azadi march.

The Rawalpindi administration has made foolproof security arrangements for the PTI public meeting. Over 8,000 police officials have been deployed for security of the PTI workers and leaders during the public gathering.

PTI on Friday got permission for its public gathering in the garrison city but changed the venue from Faizabad to Rehmanabad on Murree Road.