Pakistan helping Indian farmers instead of its own: Imran

Says if Rs70b from the Rs200b Orange Train allocation is spent on farmers, prosperity will come within a year

BAHAWALPUR: Continuing his tirade against the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan said on Thursday that governments in all countries help their farmers gain prosperity, but the Pakistani government is helping Indian farmers by importing their products.

“Unlike Pakistan, China has helped its farmers eliminate poverty,” said the PTI chief while addressing a public gathering at Dhorkot, near Uch Sharif around 70km away from Bahawalpur City. “In 30 years, China finished poverty of around 700 million people,” he added.



Khan said, “About Rs200 billion is being spent on Orange Train. If Rs60 to 70 billion is spent on farmers, prosperity will come within a year.”

Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif should compensate those farmers who had lost their jobs after the closure of sugar mills owned by the Sharif family on the orders of the Lahore High Court, he said, adding that personal money should be used for compensation and not the government’s money.

“The PTI is devising a policy for the well-being of farmers,” he said. If our farmers get what they deserve, our country will flourish instantly.”

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He said there were two laws in the country – one for the poor and the other for the rich. “When a poor person commits a crime, he is brought to justice, but when a rich commits a crime, no action is taken,” he said.

“Nawaz Sharif embezzled Rs300 billion and shifted it to foreign countries,” he said. “Now he pretends to be innocent by asking why he was disqualified. He is trying to defame the country’s judiciary and armed forces.”

Khan said hefty loans had been taken during the last nine years which had piled up the debt. Nine years ago, a Pakistani was under the debt of Rs34,000, and that same had now climbed to Rs124,000.

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“The money goes into the pockets of a limited number of politicians sitting at the top,” he said. “The government money is actually people’s money and when this money, which is supposed to be spent on the people, goes into the pockets of a small group of people, nations cannot survive.”

He said Sharif thought he enjoyed the support of the people which would bring him back to power. “But I challenge him to gather only enough people to cover half of the Parade Ground in Islamabad,” said Khan. “When I bring people to the Parade Ground, it will be overcrowded.”

In the coming general elections, care should be taken not to vote for those people whose assets were outside the country, Khan advised.

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A large number of people gathered to attend the public gathering and exercised patience when Khan could not arrive on time as he had to take a road trip to Bahawalpur due to strong smog. Even though the event started six hours late, the crowd appeared energised.