Imran seeks people’s help to bring down ‘Sindh’s pharaoh’

Lambasts Nawaz Sharif for ‘waging war’ against judiciary, army

HYDERABAD: With an opening salvo against PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, whose party rules Sindh, PTI chief Imran Khan sought the support of the people of the province to bring down ‘Sindh’s pharaoh’.

“I have defeated the godfather of corruption in a court of law and now he is asking why he was ousted,” Imran said in reference to deposed prime minister Nawaz Sharif while addressing a rally in Sukkur on Friday night.

“In Sindh, a pharaoh will also ask why he was ousted. You will have to fight Zardari with me,” he added.

Imran claimed that Sindh’s wealth was stolen and sent abroad. The money, which should be spent on people, is taken abroad. You will have to support me in the fight against these robbers, he said.



Comparing Nawaz Sharif with Asif Ali Zardari, he said Sharif was crying after his ouster, but Zardari would not. “He will leave with east. He is the chief of the plunderers in Sindh,” he said, while adding that Zardari plundered less than Sharif.

Responding to Sharif’s question as to why he was dismissed, Imran said, “You were ousted because you looted the country, submitted fake documents in court, told lies in parliament and damaged institutions.” He said Sharif had properties in other countries. “Where did he get money from to buy these offshore assets?” he asked.

He said those who destroy institutions destroy the country, adding that Sharif had started a war of attrition against the judiciary and the army after destroying all other institutions in Pakistan.

“Nawaz Sharif is playing a dangerous game. Today he attacked the Supreme Court, and in an implicit way, the army as well. The nation will stand behind the apex court and the army if Sharif confronts them,” he said in a reference to Sharif’s speech in Lahore earlier in the day.



The PTI’s chief asked why Sharif failed to react to US President Donald Trump’s vitriolic speech against Pakistan. “Even former Afghan president Hamid Karzai gave a reaction, but Sharif didn’t speak a word,” he said. “Sharif showed indifference to the speech as he cannot risk offending Trump and jeopardising the wealth he has stashed in western countries,” he added.

Imran tacitly acknowledged that his party had not focused on Sindh. He said he had remained preoccupied by his years-long battle with Sharif.

He assured that he will personally lead the party’s political activism in Sindh and requested the people to support him in the struggle. “I will now fully concentrate on Sindh because people here want change more than any other province,” he added.

Imran said, “Sindh was in better condition when I started politics 21 years ago than what I see today. The world is moving ahead but Sindh is going backwards.”



Referring to the PTI’s reforms in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s education, health, agriculture, irrigation, police and other sectors, he said his party would replicate the same models in Sindh after coming to power.

Announcing his party’s policy statement, PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi reiterated that the PTI will never allow the division of Sindh. “The PTI will never let any conspiracy which smacks of Sindh’s division succeed. Karachi was Sindh’s capital and will remain Sindh’s capital.”

He also gave his word that the construction of the controversial Kalabagh dam will never be approved without consensus among all stakeholders. Qureshi accused the PPP’s Sindh government of trying to protect the corrupt elements by amending the National Accountability Bureau Ordinance.

“The PTI, which has challenged the Sindh Assembly’s amendment in the law in the Sindh High Court, will emerge victorious in the legal battle,” he said. AML chief Sheikh Rashid said the PML-N government will not succeed in amending articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution. “I will file a petition against Sharif brothers in the Hudabiya Paper Mills case,” he announced.

[WITH ADDITIONAL INPUTY FROM NEWS DESK]