August 14 march: We’ll dethrone ‘monarchist-minded’ rulers, says Imran

Says Centre focused resources on failing K-P govt; censures govt's apologetic approach on Israel’s aggression in Gaza.

PESHAWAR/ ISLAMABAD:

Taking a jibe at the incumbent government, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan  said on Tuesday that his party would rid the country of a ‘monarchist-minded government’ and herald the beginning of a new Pakistan.

“People are fed up with the current situation. And August 14 will be the day of deliverance from the rule of Mughal-e-Azam as ‘Naya Pakistan’ is in the making,” Imran said while addressing the inaugural ceremony of the special package for the poor at the Chief Minister Secretariat.

Blaming the centre for an ‘unfair’ treatment of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, the PTI chief said that the federal government has focused all its energies on failing the PTI government because it doesn’t want the province to proposer.

He said 2.5 million internally displaced persons were an extra burden on the provincial resources. Not only the federal government is not extending any assistance but it has instead asked the K-P chief minister to seek a share in the Coalition Support Fund (CSF), he added.

Imran also came down hard on Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for flying out of the country at a time when a military operation against militants is under way. “The prime minister should have stayed in the country instead of going to Saudi Arabia with his family to perform Umrah,” he added.



He said that a ‘monarchy’ was being established in the country in the name of democracy. “But we will rid the country of this monarchy on August 14,” he added. The PTI chief also censured the PML-N government for its ‘apologetic approach’ to the Israeli aggression on Gaza where over 600 Palestinians – mostly women and children – have been killed in ruthless use of firepower.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, Imran said it was shameful how the world powers had allowed Tel Aviv to transgress all international laws and violate basic human rights enshrined in the United Nations Charter.

The principle of self-defence as enshrined in Chapter VII Article 51 of the UN Charter was never so blatantly abused before, he said, adding that Israel was involved in state terrorism against the people of Gaza. “The International Court of Justice (ICJ) advisory opinion on the Israeli wall had also found Israel guilty of abusing the principle of self-defence,” he added.

Imran also strongly criticised the leaders of Muslim states, whose silence, he said, was inexplicable as well as inexcusable. “Egypt’s refusal to allow medical assistance into Gaza and to prevent the fleeing Palestinians from entering into the safety of its borders shows the moral bankruptcy of the Arab leadership today,” he added.

The PTI chief said Muslims are being persecuted as well as prosecuted across the globe, from Palestine to Myanmar, but Muslim leaders for the most part are silent spectators or abettors in these acts.

He said the American and European democracies had also exposed their hypocrisy and double standards by trying to defend Israel’s massacre of the Palestinians in Gaza. He, however, voiced admiration for people who are taking out large rallies in support of the innocent Palestinians.

Imran said it was time for people of the world to unite and force their governments to stand up against violations of human rights and oppression. “It is imperative that the UN, if it is to reclaim even an iota of credibility, act immediately to stop the massacre going on in Gaza. The secretary general has the power to intervene and take action. It is shameful that he is not prepared to do so,” he added.


Published in The Express Tribune, July 23^rd, 2014.