PM Imran lambastes SCBA for ‘supporting criminals’

Premier says South Punjab to get due share in uplift budget, jobs quota

ISLAMABAD:

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday chastised the Supreme Court Bar Association for seeking reversal of lifelong disqualification of lawmakers, saying the bar association "should now consider filing a plea to throw open the doors of the jails in the country".

“The SCBA is pleading before the court that a man who looted country’s wealth, got convicted and ran abroad after telling a lie should be given another chance to play a match,” PM Imran said while launching the Naya Pakistan National Health Card scheme in Bahawalpur. PM Imran’s jibe at the SCBA to “strike down the legal hurdles” to help the disposed former prime minister to regain the office came after he first noticed such attempts in December last year when scoffed at it and chalked it up to the “diminishing mores” of the society.

Speaking about it on Tuesday, the prime minister wondered what the rationale was for keeping poor imprisoned “if you can’t find anything wrong with what the man [Nawaz Sharif] did. “The poor have been imprisoned and shouldn’t they be the first one to be released?” he asked. PM then chided the SCBA: “File the next petition asking the courts to open jails in Pakistan.”

“Our fight is with the gang of dacoits,” PM said, “their biggest issue is that they don’t want to see themselves under the law because they want NRO [deal] after they steal but a poor man goes to jail when he commits the same crime.” Referring to a hadith of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), PM recalled that it was said the downfall of a nation begins when it lets the rich go scot free and punishes the poor.

Revealing that this was the primary reason of the downfall of every poor country, PM reiterated that this was the struggle for which the whole nation fights. “Rule of law doesn’t prevail until the whole nation fights collectively,” he said, saying regardless of what he does if the nation keeps showering rose petals on biggest dacoits then nothing would change.

While referring to Nawaz Sharif’s stay at London, PM Imran said that Sharifs’ were living in properties worth billions of rupees in London. Emphasizing that he knows London well, PM said that London was the most expensive city in the whole Europe and Sharif family’s properties were located at the most expensive area.

Lambasting the former prime minister, Imran said that Sharif helped his sons to flee abroad despite ruling the country thrice, adding when Sharif is asked about properties he takes the plea that his sons should be questioned but they are asked how did they gathered billions of rupees to buy the flats, they out rightly state that they are not citizens of Pakistan.

In his speech, PM said that two leaders who ruled in the past 10 years were frequently discussed by world’s leading media outlets, their names used to appear in the leading newspapers and magazines.

PM Imran said that BBC made two documentaries on these leaders but those documentaries were made to show to the world how they looted country’s wealth and how corrupt they were. “The stories about their corruption would come out every now and then,” PM said. “They were never appreciated for doing anything good for the country.”

Read: "SC refuses to entertain plea against lifetime disqualification"

Now, PM quipped, it would be made a part of the Guinness Book of World Record how Rs4 billion came in Maqsood Chaprasi [peon] bank account. “The world would definitely wonder how Rs4 billion reached into the bank account of a man working in a sugar mill of Shehbaz Sharif’s son, whose salary was only Rs10,000,” he added.

When you go deeper into such cases, PM Imran maintained, you would come to know why Pakistan couldn’t reach where it should have been despite being blessed with all kinds of the resources. “A factory would face bankruptcy if you appoint a dacoit as its head,” PM said. He shared that the corrupt rulers who siphoned off money abroad were the reason behind every country that remained poorer despite having abundance resources.

“Nations never become poorer because it has dearth of resources,” PM maintained while giving Switzerland’s example, saying the country almost has no resources but it is on top because rule of law prevails in Switzerland. “The rulers there [Switzerland] do not dare to siphoned off money,” he said, adding institutions were strong there and this is where our struggle begins. “Our struggle is to build this country on the rule of law; make it a welfare state that would lift its downtrodden upward,” PM Imran said, reminding that these were the principles upon which Riyasat-e-Madina was built upon. “No one was above the law; everyone was under the law,” he said, adding Pakistan should have been built on these principles.

PM said that the country was now moving towards these objectives, saying Ehsaas programme, Kamyab Jawan Programme and Universal Health Insurance program were taking Pakistan towards a welfare state. He said the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was committed to mitigating the sense of deprivation among the people of South Punjab by ensuring their just share in the development budget and employment opportunities

Imran termed the health coverage facility as a landmark step. “The philosophy behind the health card is in line with the goals of a socio-welfare State of Medina,” Imran said, adding that it would prove a phenomenal step in the improvement of healthcare services. “The Health Card [scheme] is a defining moment to encourage the private sector to join the medical network, especially in rural areas, and create an environment of completion for the public sector hospitals to improve their services.

He said that a massive amount of over Rs400 billion would be spent on health insurance programmes to meet the demands of the growing population. “This programme will also address the problems such as the lack of doctors or paramedics, especially in rural areas.” The National Health Card, providing Rs1 million medical coverage per household annually, will benefit around 10.5 million people belonging to the districts of Rahim Yar Khan, Bahawalpur and Bahawalnagar.

Imran said universal health coverage was available in a few countries across the world, where the government fully covered the medical expenses. In Pakistan, he said, the philosophy behind the health card was in line with the goals of a socio-welfare State of Medina, adding that it would prove a phenomenal step in the improvement of healthcare services.

Meanwhile, the prime minister announced that he would soon visit Bahawalpur in near future regarding the further administrative steps on South Punjab Civil Secretariat in the city. He also dismissed the “unreasonable” criticism of media that called the government as “inefficient”, and said that economic growth of 5.37 despite the pandemic situation could absolutely not be termed as inefficiency.

Chief Minister Punjab Sardar Usman Buzdar said the launch of health card in the Bahawalpur division will raise the number of people and households in the national health programme in Punjab by 65per cent. He said over 100 hospitals had been empanelled in three districts where the patients would be able to avail medical treatment from the public and private hospitals.

By March, he said, the programme would be expanded to 36 districts of Punjab benefiting around 110 million, adding that the Punjab government was contributing billions for the health coverage, especially for cancer patients.