Closure of ‘theft cases’ a joke on nation, says Imran

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan said on Tuesday it was a joke on the people that the cases of stealing public money were being closed, and asked the masses to get ready for a struggle for “real freedom”.

Addressing party office-bearers in Peshawar, Imran said that the government has placed their own man in the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in order to get the decisions of their own choice. “All the theft cases are being closed. It is a joke on the nation,” he said.

Mentioning his arch-political rivals, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and former president Asif Zardari, Imran said that he had “no personal fight” with the two but he “I stand for the future of the nation”. He added that the cases against Nawaz and Zardari were initiated during their own tenures.

“Today is a decisive moment for the nation. Now is the time to stand up for the real freedom of the country; the nation will have to come out for its future,” the former prime minister said. “These rulers will die rather than resign,” he added.

Imran said that “this corrupt group” took amnesty for their thefts through NRO in the past, a reference to the political amnesty granted by former military ruler Pervez Musharraf through the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) in 2007. The NRO was struck down by the Supreme Court later.

Imran said that the false cases were being initiated against him by the government. He told the meeting that the current rulers came to the government on the pretext of controlling price hikes but the inflation during its tenure had created havoc.

The PTI chief asked that the party workers and office-bearers get ready for the “real freedom march”. “I can give the call for a “real freedom democratic march, any time,” the former prime minister said.