Dispels rumours about deal with govt; says Pakistan to join BRICS after revolution; promises housing, healthcare, 50pc subsidy on electricity, gas bills to every citizen; Shujaat denies differences with PAT

LAHORE: Pakistan Awami Teheek (PAT) chief Tahirul Qadri and leaders of his allied parties on Sunday vowed to continue their political agitation till the ouster of the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

They asked their workers to make all-out preparations for defeating the Pakistan Muslim League-N and Pakistan People’s Party in the next elections.

Addressing a sizeable gathering at the Minar-e-Pakistan, the PAT chief, Dr Qadri, vowed to continue his struggle till the removal of the Nawaz government and formation of a national government with the mandate for conducting ruthless accountability before holding the next elections. He said even if an interim government was formed, it should be a national government and must not hold the elections without first conducting strict accountability of the past rulers.

He said: “If elections were imposed on the country, the PAT and allies would fully participate in them and would not leave the field empty for the plunderers to return to power.” He asked the workers to utilise all their energies against the two main political parties and defeat them with over two-thirds majority in the next elections.

Qadri blasted the government for spreading rumours in the media about the PAT leadership allegedly accepting blood money for the Model Town martyrs and denied any such deal, warning that he would not allow the rulers to become another Raymond Davis. Making the entire gathering as witness, he vowed PAT would never rest without taking Qisas (life for life) for their martyrs. “The Qisas will be in the shape of capital punishment for the present rulers,” he added.

Accusing the rulers of giving away all civic operations in Lahore to foreign companies on contract basis, he warned that the rulers were selling off the country for their personal kickbacks and this showed they had no trust in a nuclear-armed Pakistani nation to run its civic operations successfully.

He said Pakistan was the best nation in the world but only needed a revolutionary leadership like himself to put the country back on the track and lead it to the heights of success and make it more advanced than Europe and America. He alleged that the present rulers lacked the vision and capabilities to rid the country of power loadshedding.

Announcing a revolutionary formula, Qadri declared that if came to power, he would abolish white elephants like Wapda and enforce an innovative programme of power generation at district, tehsil and union council levels. “This way the country will become self-sufficient in power within a couple of years,” he said, adding: “I envision generating power through 12 new and innovative methods most of which are being used in different countries of the world.”

He said those methods include wind energy, micro hydro-power projects, canal power projects, especially in the Punjab where thousands of canals could provide excellent opportunities, sea-shore turbines, ethanol and vegetable oil power, solar lantern, solar thermal energy from earth, and others.

He also said he would provide free houses, food, clothing and medical and educational facilities for the poor; 50 percent subsidised power and gas to those earning less than 15,000 per month. He said Pakistan needed a revolutionary government to exploit its unmatched geographical situation. He said after coming to power, he would make Pakistan part of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) group.

He said Pakistan was at the crossroads of four important economic zones — China, India, Central Asia, Iran and Middle East and added a right revolutionary leadership was required to capitalise on a geographical position that is unique to Pakistan alone on the globe. He said he would make these zones trade dependent on Pakistan. He said that “No Asia without Pakistan” would be his slogan.

He said Pakistan had enough potential and resources to realise the dream of revolution after which every road of Pakistan would produce gold. He promised housing, healthcare and 50 percent subsidy on electricity and gas bills to every citizen. All this would be possible once corruption was rooted out from the society, he added.

Coming down hard on the rulers, especially referring to the Punjab, Qadri said the country was being pushed back to the East India Company era. He told the meeting that cleanliness contract for Lahore had been awarded to a friendly Muslim country. While public transport was being managed by foreigners, the vehicle parking contract was being awarded to a foreign firm for which negotiations had taken place, he added.

He alleged that the way rulers were giving contracts to foreigners, the time was not far when the entire country would be handed over to foreigners on contract because contracts yielded kickbacks.

He said nothing could be more insulting to a nuclear nation than rulers considering it incapable of plying buses, cleaning their cities and managing their parking business. What kind of governance this was? he wondered. He declared that now no “ism” was going to survive except “Quaid-e-Azamism.”

Former prime minister Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain denied any differences between the PML-Q and PAT. Condemning the Model Town carnage, he said it was a result of the government mindset, which wanted to kill even more persons during the raid. He challenged Shahbaz Sharif to have a debate with him at the Minar-e-Pakistan to draw a comparison between the welfare activities done by the PML-Q and the PML-N. He flayed the PML-N government for its ‘criminal’ silence over Indian firing at the Line of Control.

Mentioning the sacrifices of the Pakistan Army, he said: “Our defence minister kept hurling abuses on his army on the floor of the house but it was quite unfortunate that our prime minister and defence minister talked softly against India. The criminal silence of Nawaz Sharif about India was very much harmful to Pakistan and the Pakistan Army.”

Former federal minister Sardar Assef Ahmed Ali said “Go Nawaz Go” had become the most popular slogan of the country and, in reality, the Nawaz era had ended. He said leaders like Dr Tahirul Qadri were a hope for the country and there was a dire need to rid Pakistan of corrupt elements.

Ghulam Mustafa Khar said that after Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the country could never get a genuine leadership, but hope rests with Dr Tahirul Qadri at a time when the country direly needed a saviour.

Majlis-e-Wahdatul Muslimeen Secretary General Raja Nasir Abbas came hard on the PPP and PML-N for ‘deceiving the nation’ and unleashing an era of bloodshed against innocent people. He said the MWM had a firm commitment to the PAT and would remain its ally in the struggle for saving Pakistan.

Former federal minister J Saalik said the Nawaz era was about to end and Dr Qadri’s revolution would put an end to Sharifs’ politics for good.

The Sunni Ittehad Council Chairman, Hamid Raza, said the crowd at this public meeting was a real eye-opener for the PML-N leadership. He said it was up to the PML-N leaders to decide whether they wanted to live at Jaati Umra, Raiwind, or the people of Pakistan would send them to Jaati Umra, India.

Source: www.thenews.com.pk