I am not afraid of jail: Sharif

Elements with hidden agendas and those promoting ‘dharna culture’ ruined national progress, says former premier

ABBOTTABAD: I will never run away. I will face all charges. No one can deter me from serving my country. I am not afraid of courts and jails.

Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif opened massive Sunday rally in Abbottabad with a host of promises as his PML-N kicked off its national mass contact campaign.

There was just one accountability court, comprising 200 million people, and they would hold everyone accountable who denied justice to their leader who was elected to power with popular votes, he said.

“People are neither deaf nor blind,” he said.

Nawaz Sharif was accompanied by one of his coalition partners, Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) chief Mehmood Khan Achakzai, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Governor Zafar Iqbal Jhagra, former K-P governor Sardar Mehtab Ahmed Khan, former K-P chief minister Pir Sabir Shah, PML-N Provincial President Amir Muqam, Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Murtaza Javed Abbasi, Senator Asif Kirmani, Marvi Memon, and others.

Urging elements who talked about minus Nawaz Sharif formula to see the flood of people, he said that his name had now become synonymous with an ideology.

“Such massive gatherings should serve as an eye-opener. People here represent those who reject the decision to oust me from the post of prime minister. I am still in the hearts and minds of the people who still firmly believe that only Nawaz Sharif can pull the country out of a multitude of crises. Such gatherings were repeated during my journey from Islamabad to Lahore. People are giving their verdict, rejecting the decisions of the courts.”

“My family and I have been dragged in courts in the name of accountability. Despite employing all negative tactics, they cannot produce a shred of evidence to prove corruption charges against us. All this is just a ruse to eliminate me from the people’s hearts. I will never run away. I will face all charges,” Nawaz Sharif told his audience.



Over the past 70 years, he said, no one has tried usurpers like Musharraf and others who seized power illegally.

“They were never held accountable, but all those who were elected with the power of public votes have consistently been de-seated. Dictators were given a clear path to rule and overrule the public mandate. Who had to swear oaths again under PCO for bolstering power grabbers? This duplicitous policy is questionable. Only judges can answer," he said.

“I placed my review petition before the people’s court because the SC's questionable decisions tarnished their global image."

According to him, just one bad decision had destabilised national progress and halted economic growth, which had just started showing an upward trend.

“When we came to power, the country was in the grip of 20-hour power outages. It was near bankruptcy, and terrorism had peaked. Now, people are saying goodbye to load-shedding, terrorist activities have nearly died down and peace is again taking roots in the country. But elements with hidden agendas and those who promote dharna culture are spoiling the nation's chances of progressing.”

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, he said, was showing the worst examples of corruption, especially in the shape of the Billion Tree Project.

“People will string up PTI leaders to recover looted money. They have failed to deliver and the people of K-P are fed up with them.”

Earlier, Achakzai said that he would be the last man standing by Nawaz Sharif because he and his party believed that Nawaz Sharif was playing a vital role for the survival of democracy and protection of Pakistan’s Constitution.

He also refuted the charge that Nawaz Sharif was on a confrontation policy.

Achakzai said that although he was not accusing judges, generals or any other department or organisation of any wrongdoing, he pledged to resist any undemocratic step against the people’s will “by any means necessary”.

Efforts, he said, were being made for creating leaders. “These elements must know that leaders come from the masses. They are born. Efforts to create artificial leaders are doomed to disaster.”