Pending issue: Strong Pakistan to resolve Kashmir question, says Imran

Welcomes ex-PM AJK Barrister Sultan Mehmood into party fold

ISLAMABAD:

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan on Thursday stressed that only a stable and strong Pakistan can fight for the fundamental rights of Kashmir at international level, insisting that “the PTI would make it happen”.

He made the remark at a Kashmir Day reception while paying rich tributes to the people of Jammu and Kashmir for their decades-long struggle and sacrifices. At the same time the PTI chief pledged that his party would launch an international campaign for the solution of the longstanding Kashmir issue.

“A stable and strong Pakistan can fight the case of Kashmir at international level and the PTI would make that happen,” Imran said.

However, the PTI chairman did not miss the opportunity to take up the issue of rigging in 2013 general elections. In addition, the event was also used as a welcome reception for former Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) prime minister Barrister Sultan Mehmood Chaudhry, who announced joining the PTI.

Imran also underlined the need of a struggle for the restoration of real democracy and for the ouster of opportunists who had captured resources of the country.



He said back-to-back martial laws and fake democracies have deprived us till date of real independence. “It is unfortunate we did not have excellent dictators otherwise the country would have been on the path of success,” he stated.

While criticising the ruling elite, Imran said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and former president Asif Ali Zardari were the two sides of the same coin, adding that the ruling class has expanded its businesses and collected billions while millions of people were living below the poverty line.

“Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif wanted to enslave the people and usurp their rights,” he said.

Talking about the rigging in 2013 general elections, Imran said the PTI had been struggling for justice for over a year and has become a symbol of change in the country.

The PTI was facing a tough fight in Pakistan and Kashmir as it has challenged the status quo, he added.

Imran said a decision over the rigging in NA-122 constituency, which is likely to be out this month, would substantiate his party’s stance.

He blamed the provinces of Sindh and Punjab for delaying the local government polls in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, claiming that the PTI would introduce a system and transfer power to the people. “People would take their decisions on their own,” he added.

Former AJK premier joins PTI

Meanwhile, Imran Khan welcomed former AJK premier Barrister Sultan Mehmood Chaudhry to his party, saying there were no allegations of corruption on Barrister Mehmood and that he took the right decision to join his party.

Chaudhry had been affiliated with the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and Pakistan Peoples Party in the past.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 6^th, 2015.