LAHORE: Pakistan cricket hero turned politician Imran Khan told a huge rally Sunday that his party would help US troops pull out from Afghanistan and bring militancy in the country to an end.
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| Pakistani politician and former cricketer Imran Khan arrives at a rally in Lahore. Pakistan cricket hero turned politician Khan told a huge rally Sunday that his party would help US troops pull out from Afghanistan and bring militancy in the country to an end. © AFP Arif Ali |
Addressing a crowd of tens of thousands in the eastern city of Lahore he said his Tehreek-e-Insaf (Movement for Justice) party would like to have friendly — but not slavish — relations with the US.
“My message to America is that we will have friendship with you but we will not accept any slavery,” he told the crowd.
“We will help you in a respectable withdrawal of your troops from Afghanistan, but we will not launch a military operation in Pakistan for you.” Top US officials including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last week visited Pakistan to press for action against Islamic extremists, particularly the Haqqani network, which is blamed for anti-US attacks in Afghanistan.
Witnesses said the rally, one of the largest in the city, was attended by some 150,000 people while organisers put the number at over half a million.
People came in packed buses, trucks, cars and tractors from Lahore and other cities including those in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan. Roads were blocked for hours due to heavy crowds.
“Who will save Pakistan? Imran Khan, Imran Khan,” the crowd chanted as Khan arrived at the sprawling Minar-e-Pakistan ground ringed by security forces.
Vowing to end terrorism in the country, Khan said he held a meeting with tribal elders three days ago.
“They all said militancy will end if Pakistan army leaves the tribal areas and US troops quit Afghanistan,” he said.
He said the rugged tribal terrain near the Afghan border is home to one million armed tribesmen.
“They are like our backbone but US drone strikes are forcing them to flee to Afghanistan and they are becoming Taliban in revenge,” he said, adding that his party will work for reconciliation and bring terrorism to an end.
There is widespread anti-Americanism in Pakistan as well as opposition to the drone strikes, although the attacks have never mobilised a widespread public movement.
“My message to America is that we will have friendship with you but we will not accept any slavery,” he told the crowd.
“We will help you in a respectable withdrawal of your troops from Afghanistan, but we will not launch a military operation in Pakistan for you.” Top US officials including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last week visited Pakistan to press for action against Islamic extremists, particularly the Haqqani network, which is blamed for anti-US attacks in Afghanistan.
Witnesses said the rally, one of the largest in the city, was attended by some 150,000 people while organisers put the number at over half a million.
People came in packed buses, trucks, cars and tractors from Lahore and other cities including those in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan. Roads were blocked for hours due to heavy crowds.
“Who will save Pakistan? Imran Khan, Imran Khan,” the crowd chanted as Khan arrived at the sprawling Minar-e-Pakistan ground ringed by security forces.
Vowing to end terrorism in the country, Khan said he held a meeting with tribal elders three days ago.
“They all said militancy will end if Pakistan army leaves the tribal areas and US troops quit Afghanistan,” he said.
He said the rugged tribal terrain near the Afghan border is home to one million armed tribesmen.
“They are like our backbone but US drone strikes are forcing them to flee to Afghanistan and they are becoming Taliban in revenge,” he said, adding that his party will work for reconciliation and bring terrorism to an end.
There is widespread anti-Americanism in Pakistan as well as opposition to the drone strikes, although the attacks have never mobilised a widespread public movement.
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| Pakistani politician and chief of Tehreek-e-Insaf (Movement for Justice) party Imran Khan waves to supporters during a protest in Islamabad on October 28. A crowd of thousands have gathered for another rally in Lahore called by cricket hero turned politician Khan to press President Asif Ali Zardari to step down. © AFP/File Aamir Qureshi |
The Pakistani military is itself battling a Taliban insurgency in the northwest, and more than 4,700 people have been killed in attacks across the country since government troops stormed a radical mosque in Islamabad in 2007.
Vowing to end corruption, poverty and illiteracy, and to depoliticise the police, Khan said his party would provide justice at village level.
He warned that he would launch a civil disobedience campaign if the country’s rulers did not declare their assets over the next few months.
“We will launch a civil disobedience movement and our youth will shut down cities across the country if you don’t declare your assets,” he said, claiming that President Asif Ali Zardari had secret accounts in foreign banks.
The rally, seen as a show of strength, comes two days after the main opposition leader Nawaz Sharif‘s brother Shahbaz, attracted some 30,000 people at an anti-Zardari protest also in the key political battleground of Lahore.
Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) demanded early elections in its political heartland — it controls the Punjab provincial government despite being in opposition at national level.
Party faithful denounced corruption and widespread power cuts, calling on the 56-year-old president, dubbed “Mr Ten Percent” over graft allegations, to step down before the government’s five-year mandate expires in 2013.
Political analyst Shafqat Mahmood said the scale of Sunday’s rally showed Khan had carved out support.
“People including youth, and intelligentsia responded to his call. This shows people want a change,” he said.
“People see a new option in him. How much impact it will have on the next elections is yet to be seen.”
Earlier Update:
In his address to the cheering crowd that turned up in tens of thousands at ‘Pakistan Bachao’ call of TI Chief Imran Khan here at Minar-e-Pakistan, the cricketer turned politician also warned that he would go to the Supreme Court as well as the Election Commission of Pakistan if the politicians in the government and opposition failed to declare their assets as required under the Pakistan law.
He said Tehreek-e-Insaf would set up a cell to investigate and identify politicians who declare assets and those who do not.
Starting his speech following the National Anthem, Imran Khan gave his party’s programme in detail which, he said, aimed at making Pakistan a peaceful and independent country where investment would be attracted from across the world. “We will make Pakistan a place where people come from other countries to seek jobs.”
Talking of change, he said: “ Today we are beginning a new Pakistan from Minar-e-Pakistan, the place from where founder of the Nation Quad-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah began his movement”.
Spelling out his party’s manifesto in connection with Pakistan’s relations with the US, the Tehreek-e-Insaf Chief said ‘we will make friends with you (US) but not be your slave; we will help you (US) withdraw from Afghanistan but won’t launch any military operation (for you).’
He questioned that if US, being the super power, could not win the war through military means how could Pakistan?
“We will strengthen ties with China,” he said, adding, he was leaving for China on its government’s invitation tonight.
He said Pakistan was not a poor country; ‘it is very rich in natural resources’. Pakistan has 180 billion tonnes of coal reserves which means we can export electricity to the world, he added.
Imran Khan said Pakistan never needed to beg before others. “Pakistan will never beg again; Imran Khan will die but won’t beg,” he vowed amid vociferous cheers of the charged crowd.
Coming down hard on President Asif Ali Zardari, Imran Khan questioned how could Asif Zardari provide bread, cloth and shelter when under his rule 16000 people committed suicide.
He also claimed that ‘Asif Zardari’ wrote a letter to the US requesting it to please save him from the army because he was not able to serve them well with army interefernce.
He regretted that Mian (Nawaz Sharif) sahib should have done better than coming up with a show of ‘Patwaris’ the other day in Lahore.
Imran Khan said Pakistan was suffering a loss of Rs3000 billions per year mainly due to rampant corruption.
He said his party also aimed to bring about police reforms in the country to improve the working of this institution. “We will depoliticize police and then get the SHO elected like the way it is done in America,” he added.
He said condition of the villages will be improved and pledged to bring an end to military operation and target killings in Balochistan, which, he termed as a province rich in natural resources.. “We will make Balochis our brothers,” he added.
Criticising Pakistan Muslim League-N Nawaz Sharif, he said: “How can you fight with Zardari when you can’t even fight with mosquitoes?”
Pointing to the crowd, he said, Asif Zardar and Nawaz Sharif cannot stop this flood now. “This is not just a flood it is a Tsunami and anyone who tries to stand before it will be washed away.”
Vowing to end corruption, poverty and illiteracy, and to depoliticise the police, Khan said his party would provide justice at village level.
He warned that he would launch a civil disobedience campaign if the country’s rulers did not declare their assets over the next few months.
“We will launch a civil disobedience movement and our youth will shut down cities across the country if you don’t declare your assets,” he said, claiming that President Asif Ali Zardari had secret accounts in foreign banks.
The rally, seen as a show of strength, comes two days after the main opposition leader Nawaz Sharif‘s brother Shahbaz, attracted some 30,000 people at an anti-Zardari protest also in the key political battleground of Lahore.
Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) demanded early elections in its political heartland — it controls the Punjab provincial government despite being in opposition at national level.
Party faithful denounced corruption and widespread power cuts, calling on the 56-year-old president, dubbed “Mr Ten Percent” over graft allegations, to step down before the government’s five-year mandate expires in 2013.
Political analyst Shafqat Mahmood said the scale of Sunday’s rally showed Khan had carved out support.
“People including youth, and intelligentsia responded to his call. This shows people want a change,” he said.
“People see a new option in him. How much impact it will have on the next elections is yet to be seen.”
Earlier Update:
In his address to the cheering crowd that turned up in tens of thousands at ‘Pakistan Bachao’ call of TI Chief Imran Khan here at Minar-e-Pakistan, the cricketer turned politician also warned that he would go to the Supreme Court as well as the Election Commission of Pakistan if the politicians in the government and opposition failed to declare their assets as required under the Pakistan law.
He said Tehreek-e-Insaf would set up a cell to investigate and identify politicians who declare assets and those who do not.
Starting his speech following the National Anthem, Imran Khan gave his party’s programme in detail which, he said, aimed at making Pakistan a peaceful and independent country where investment would be attracted from across the world. “We will make Pakistan a place where people come from other countries to seek jobs.”
Talking of change, he said: “ Today we are beginning a new Pakistan from Minar-e-Pakistan, the place from where founder of the Nation Quad-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah began his movement”.
Spelling out his party’s manifesto in connection with Pakistan’s relations with the US, the Tehreek-e-Insaf Chief said ‘we will make friends with you (US) but not be your slave; we will help you (US) withdraw from Afghanistan but won’t launch any military operation (for you).’
He questioned that if US, being the super power, could not win the war through military means how could Pakistan?
“We will strengthen ties with China,” he said, adding, he was leaving for China on its government’s invitation tonight.
He said Pakistan was not a poor country; ‘it is very rich in natural resources’. Pakistan has 180 billion tonnes of coal reserves which means we can export electricity to the world, he added.
Imran Khan said Pakistan never needed to beg before others. “Pakistan will never beg again; Imran Khan will die but won’t beg,” he vowed amid vociferous cheers of the charged crowd.
Coming down hard on President Asif Ali Zardari, Imran Khan questioned how could Asif Zardari provide bread, cloth and shelter when under his rule 16000 people committed suicide.
He also claimed that ‘Asif Zardari’ wrote a letter to the US requesting it to please save him from the army because he was not able to serve them well with army interefernce.
He regretted that Mian (Nawaz Sharif) sahib should have done better than coming up with a show of ‘Patwaris’ the other day in Lahore.
Imran Khan said Pakistan was suffering a loss of Rs3000 billions per year mainly due to rampant corruption.
He said his party also aimed to bring about police reforms in the country to improve the working of this institution. “We will depoliticize police and then get the SHO elected like the way it is done in America,” he added.
He said condition of the villages will be improved and pledged to bring an end to military operation and target killings in Balochistan, which, he termed as a province rich in natural resources.. “We will make Balochis our brothers,” he added.
Criticising Pakistan Muslim League-N Nawaz Sharif, he said: “How can you fight with Zardari when you can’t even fight with mosquitoes?”
Pointing to the crowd, he said, Asif Zardar and Nawaz Sharif cannot stop this flood now. “This is not just a flood it is a Tsunami and anyone who tries to stand before it will be washed away.”
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