Faisalabad Rally: Qadri asks for ‘support, cash and votes’

PAT chief says people are ready to snatch power from the rulers.

FAISALABAD: Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) chief Dr Tahirul Qadri has asked people to give him ‘support, [currency] notes and votes’ so that he could “change their destiny and bring a revolution of prosperity at their doorstep”.

“Neither I have money and nor my associates are billionaires, looters or plunderers. I need your support with all resources for bringing a genuine revolution and a qualitative change in the lives of the oppressed,” he said, addressing a mammoth rally in the historical Dhobi Ghaat ground Sunday night.

“I’m in Faisalabad for two days to enroll you as a member of the PAT. I will open a bank account, stuff it with your money according to your capacity,” he said. Qadri, who took a break from PAT’s dharna in Islamabad after 60 days and travelled to Faisalabad, claimed that a revolution had come and now people were ready to snatch power from the rulers if they refused to accept their verdict. “If Nawaz Sharif and his associates do not allow the genuine representatives of people to rule the country on the basis of equality, fair-play, social justice and rule of law, then revolutionaries will sweep away his government,” he warned.

The PAT chief said he was living a comfortable life in Canada, but had decided to return to Pakistan and bear these hardships as he could not bear the suffering of the nation. “People are committing suicides, lawlessness and corruption are rampant, and everyone is suffering. Such sorry state of affairs forced me to come to Pakistan to steer the country out of crises,” he said.

Criticising the government, Qadri said the country was mired in heavy foreign loans and the resources were being spent for payment of their interest – a situation in which no resources were left for ordinary citizens. “Additionally, the rulers have also borrowed trillions of rupees from local banks and are paying heavy interest on such loans. These rulers cannot pull the national economy out of such morass.”

The PAT chief claimed that if he was voted to power, he would raise billions of rupees through overseas Pakistanis to pay off the loans and to make Pakistan a loan-free state.

The present system is based on cruelty, injustice, he said, adding that only with the power of the vote he could overcome the menaces of poverty, lawlessness, terrorism, sectarianism and religious intolerance.

The PAT chief said he had ‘committed a crime’ by raising his voice for the poor and the downtrodden. “My 10-point agenda is my heinous crime and the supporters of the status quo have united against me,” he said. “Fake democracy is not acceptable”.

Qadri said that the huge turnout at the rally was a no-confidence motion against the government. “Pakistani people have rejected politics of corruption and the monarchy of Nawaz Sharif. They cannot stay in power by hoodwinking the masses on the basis of their fake mandate,” he added.

Qadri said he was committed to ending the system of injustice in Pakistan and no one could stop him. “The revolution march has entered the decisive phase and my struggle to change the system is now heading towards victory,” he claimed. He also announced that after coming to powers, he would create new provinces for resolving people’s problems at their doorsteps.

Other leaders of the allied parties, including Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen and Sunni Ittehad Council, also spoke at the gathering.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 13^th, 2014.