Umerkot rally: Imran hits the desert

PTI skewers PPP, PML-N over corruption, promises to end brain drain.

HYDERABAD:

The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf chief, Imran Khan, made his first mark in the desert of Sindh while speaking at a ground which is famous for either being filled by rain or Benazir Bhutto.

Between 25,000 and 30,000 people attended the party’s public meeting at Umerkot’s Marvi ground on Saturday where Imran assured them of emancipation from feudalism, thana culture and age-old leadership which has failed to serve them. “Good days are on the horizon,” he declared. “The PTI’s local government system will pave the way for empowerment of the poor who will then dominate the thana and it will never be vice versa again.” Imran failed to offer any details of the system he has conceived and often talks about.

Imran won the crowd’s response even though the show lacked a usual feature - it was not laced with musical performances. One local singer who was scheduled to perform did not turn up.

The PTI chief thanked his party’s vice chairman, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, for organising what he said was a successful event. Qureshi has a considerable following in the area among the people of Pali, Samejo, Halepoto and other Muslim communities as well as in the scheduled caste Menghawars and Bheel Hindus. People also came from Tharparkar, Mirpurkhas and Sanghar districts.

The district is at present considered a stronghold of the Pakistan Peoples Party which won all the national and provincial assemblies seats in the 2008 general elections.

“The people of Pakistan will be happy to see Sindhis wake up to the call of the tsunami,” Imran said. “People will get free justice and the unemployment, lack of standard education and other facilities which breed crime will be eradicated.”

He said that when he comes to power, not only will petty thieves be sent to jail but also the biggest dacoits who had become presidents would face the same fate. Imran came down hard on what he called the Zardari-Sharif nexus. “Amid spells of Noora Kushti (a phoney war) they united for the 18th and 19th amendments, and when the tsunami threatened Nawaz Sharif, finally for the 20th constitutional amendment. But they will never be on the same page for an anti-corruption law because both of them are thieves who plunder in different ways.”

Imran challenged both parties, the PPP and Pakistan Muslim League (N), with defeat in the next elections, which he declared would be “historic”. He promised to transform the country into a place where people from the other countries would come for jobs, ending the local brain drain.

Umerkot, Mirpurkhas, Sanghar and Tharparkar from where the majority of the audience came for the public meeting were badly affected by the rains and floods in 2011. The government’s efforts to get them back up on their feet have been badly criticised by its political opponents, including Nawaz Sharif, as well as civil society. However, Imran did not utter a word on the issue.

Quresh defended the party’s popularity in Sindh. “They mock us that we don’t have big names in Sindh but they don’t see what we have here: this crowd of poor people who are here on their own and not brought on public expense.”

He held successive governments responsible for failing to eradicate poverty from this arid region, which is, however, rich in mineral resources and untapped human capital.

Qureshi said that he has a spiritual bonding with the people of this desert, which is stronger than that of any political following.

The PTI’s general secretary, Arif Alvi, said that the people of Sindh were poised to rebel against the PPP, which he said has always plundered the province whenever it has come to power. They want a credible leadership which the PTI will give, he assured.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 26^th, 2012.