HAFIZABAD :Prime Minister Imran Khan Sunday said that unless a nation stood united against corruption, injustices and sex crimes, these forms of evils would continue to bulge, resulting in the degeneration of a society.
Addressing a mammoth crowd here, the prime minister said that a true leader would not bow or please anyone at the sake of his nation and country.
“Our previous prime minister sat before the US president trembling and holding a paper in his hand. Will such kind of leaders can raise self-respect of a nation!” he said without naming former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s meeting with former US president.
The prime minister said a true leader always raised a nation’s spirits and cited the precedent of founder of Pakistan Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah.
“The world respects that individual or the country that has self-respect,” he opined.
The prime minister reiterated that Pakistan wanted equal ties with all the countries.
“But as a prime minister of a country with 220 million population, it is my first and foremost duty to protect their rights and interests of the country. I will not allow any policy which can inflict any harm to the motherland. I will not compromise upon the national interests just for seeking the pleasure of any country,” he stressed.
The prime minister referred to his US visit, where he stayed in a room of Pakistan Embassy Taking pride in shalwar kameez, the prime minister said that he did not spend 1.2 or 1.4 million dollars as wasted by Zardari and Nawaz Sharif during their visits.
The prime minister also justified his criticism of the EU ambassadors’ open letter over Russian-Ukraine conflict, which he maintained was against all diplomatic protocols.
“Whether they had addressed such a letter to India. We are no slave to anyone,” he added.
Expressing his wonder, the prime minister said his opponents, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Shahbaz Sharif and Bilawal Bhutto issued statements against him for raising his voice against such incident.
He said that he knew the West and their mindset very well as they looked down upon those who had ‘polished their shoes’ or those who were ready to serve them for petty gains.
On the contrary, they respected those who stood for the self-esteem of their nations and countries. They had no respect for those who had stashed away their ill-gotten pelf abroad, he added.
Chief Minister Punjab Sardar Usman Buzdar, Vice Chairman PTI and Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi, PTI top leadership including Asad Umar, Shafqat Mahmood, Dr Shahbaz Gill, Shaukat Bhatti, MNA, and other leadership was also present.
Earlier, the prime minister also inaugurated different educational, health and road infrastructure projects.
The prime minister expressed the confidence that Pakistan would soon become a great country and would become a precedent in the world by following the principles of the Riasat-e-Madina.
Citing the recent Indian missile firing, he said Pakistan adopted a prudent approach. “Pakistan is a country that can defend itself. Pakistan is moving on the right path and its economy is set on the right course,” he added.
About opposition parties’ no-confidence motion, the prime minister said that all thieves had gathered to pull down the government. They were out to bribe away people and purchase their loyalties with the looted money, he said, adding but instead, ‘the three mice that are out to prey, will soon fall a prey to their moves.’
The prime minister said during previous governments of PPP and PML-N, about 400 drone attacks were recorded inside Pakistan’s territory.
Pakistan had been fighting their war, but neither Zardari nor Sharif had the courage to condemn such blatant violations of the international laws and human rights, he regretted.
On the contrary, the prime minister said, he had always opposed those attacks, staged sit-ins, and gave statements in the United States and the United Kingdom, calling these attacks a grave violation of basic human rights and global principles.
Sharing one such experience, he told a group of European representatives, whether they would allow use of drone against a terrorist and criminal sitting in London who had killed scores of people in Karachi.
The prime minister further said that his objective for entering into politics was to make the young generations and the nation realize the real ideology of Pakistan as propounded by Allama Muhammad Iqbal.
“A nation is formed on the basis of an ideology. Unless a nation realizes the ideology behind creation of a homeland, it cannot become a nation and often recedes into oblivion,” he opined.
The prime minister said in Riasat-e-Madina, the Holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) lifted the characters of his people who later, ruled the world.
He said it was the State’s responsibility to create awareness among the masses about the virtue and evil.
For the purpose to inculcate those principles in the young generations, he had decided to establish Rehmatul-ill-Alameen Authority, so that they could get awareness about the the Seerah of Holy Prophet (PBUH) who was a mercy for the whole world.
The Holy Prophet (PBUH) had gathered people from all faiths on one ideology of justice, self-esteem, welfare and equal treatment of all with strict adherence to the rule of law, he maintained.
Referring to his twenty-five years political struggle, the prime minister said he always strived to stand for the virtue.
He said it was the responsibility of the courts, elections commission and the nation to take firm stand against corruption in the society.
The prime minister said in the West, no one dared to purchase loyalty or bribed any member of parliament as they knew that society could not tolerate such shabby acts.
The prime minister further regretted that with the passage of time, Pakistani nation also went down from the path of progress and prosperity as their past rulers did not realize as to why Pakistan was created, adding no past leadership ever realized that ideology.
Enumerating his government’s major achievements, the prime minister said they had introduced uniform syllabus for the nation, for the first time, in the last seventy years.
He said the English language should not be a criteria for creating differences in the society, adding they were also introducing contemporary subjects in the religious seminaries, so that pupils there, should also become engineers, judges and doctors.
The prime minister said that they were offering a total of 2.6 million scholarships for the youth of the country and the process was being monitored by the PM Office to ensure merit.
He said two state-of-the-art universities, were being set up, including the one with focus on research in the latest aerospace technology, so that the country could become self-sufficient in the indigenous production of planes etc.
He said after a gap of 15 years, the OIC FM conference was being hosted in Pakistan, showing the success of its foreign policy.
The prime minister also cited launch of different social and economic uplift initiatives like health cards, social relief packages and financial support initiatives under the flagship Ehsaas programme, extension of interest-free loans, investment opportunities and the economic growth resulting in the economic turnaround of the country.
He expressed the confidence that during their five years term in the government, unmatched development works were being completed in Punjab province.