Talkback: PTI’s Javed Hashmi urges political parties to unite for Karachi

Criticises PML-N, calls Imran Khan a torchbearer of change.

KARACHI: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) President Makhdoom Javed Hashmi said targeted killing was not just restricted to Karachi but was a countrywide issue.

Hashmi made the comments while speaking to members of the Karachi Bar Association on Wednesday.

He said the law of the jungle appears to be the law of the land and urged all political parties to unite on the issue of Karachi.

Hashmi continued to hit out at his former party, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), on the third day of his trip to Karachi.

He alleged that despite his opposition and warning, Nawaz Sharif supported the candidature and election of Asif Ali Zardari as president of Pakistan.  “He also chose to play the role of a friendly opposition,” he said.

Hashmi said that he had warned Sharif that by facilitating Zardari’s election, the PML-N is making an unforgiveable mistake and the people of Pakistan will never forget this.

Terming his joining PTI as “political migration”, Hashmi said that he was an “idealist” politician and refused to take oath as senior minister from a ‘dictator’, referring to former president Pervez Musharraf.

Referring to the crisis in Balochistan and the strong claims of secession from the state, he said that were PTI chairperson Imran Khan’s suggestions given due weight in the 2008 general elections, the Baloch people would have not have gone to the extent of seeking independence.

He called Khan as a torchbearer of change and said that the PTI would travel across the country to garner public support.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 7^th, 2012.