Déjà vu: If rigging claims not probed, ‘PTI to stage Lahore sit-in’

Verification of results will expose ‘fraud in 2013 polls’

LAHORE:

If the judicial commission fails to investigate allegations of rigging in the 2013 general elections, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) will stage a sit-in demo in Lahore, said party chief Imran Khan on Monday.

Speaking at an event organised in connection with the International Women’s Day by the PTI’s Punjab chapter at Aiwan-e-Iqbal, Khan paid rich tributes to women making a difference in society, including the party’s Zahra Shahid who was killed in May 2013 in Karachi.

Khan said the election results for NA-122 had been sent to NADRA for verification, the result of which was due in one month. “We shall be coming to Lahore on our Azadi Bus. Be prepared, Lahore!”



He reiterated his stance on the rigging allegations, saying verification of the results would expose the “fraud committed in the 2013 polls”.

He also levelled allegations regarding bidding of votes during the recently held Senate elections, saying bids ranging from Rs20 million to Rs40 million were made.

Praising former Punjab governor Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar, he said he had never seen a governor resign from his luxuries and privileges to join a party to bring about a change.

The PTI chief lauded the bravery of the Army Public School principal Tahira Qazi and mathematics teacher Saima Zareen for their sacrifices during the terrorist attack on the school in December last year.

Sarwar said the success of the party’s sit-in lay with the participation and struggles of women members and supporters.

“My conscience lamented me when I sat in the Governor House watching the passion of the women in the sit-in.”

He said that when he was the governor he had also served as the chancellor of universities, adding that 80 per cent of the outstanding students were girls. “I once told the boys that girls were not just beating them in studies but knocking them out completely.”

Rich tributes were paid to women who had contributed significantly in different fields, including philanthropist Bilquis Edhi, child prodigy Arfa Karim and Pakistan’s first female fighter pilot Ayesha Farooq.

PTI Punjab Information Secretary Andleeb Abbas said that while women were struggling to make their place in the Pakistani society, the country still ranked 141 out of 142 countries in terms of gender equity gap, according to the Global Gender Gap Report 2014.

PTI Punjab General Secretary Dr Yasmin Rashid said women were the true strength of the party, while PTI Women Wing Punjab President Saloni Bukhari said the success of the party’s sit-in was owing to the large participation of women.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 10^th, 2015.