FAISALABAD: Criticising the top-ups for causing billion of rupees loss to the country due to corruption, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan on Friday said that “accountability must begin with political heavyweights”.
The PTI chief, who on most instances was seen trying to calm party activists on the stage, said that Pakistan must get rid of corruption. “As long as those sitting at the top are corrupt, Pakistan cannot progress. These people need to be held accountable first.”
He said that the Panama revelations had revealed offshore assets of many people, including the Sharif family. “It all started when the internet database of a law firm was hacked. A group of 150 journalists studied the case and compiled the results in the form of Panama Papers.”
Four questions
Imran said that major opposition parties had asked the prime minister “four questions” in the wake of Panama revelations. The Sharif family, he said, owns four hotels in London’s Mayfair. “Was the money used to buy the hotels legal? Were taxes paid? Was the amount to purchase the hotels legally transferred? Where are the papers of the hotels?”
No government, but public money
The PTI chairman said that the people were being forced to pay a high amount of taxes. “You people are being cheated. Its your money that is being taken away, not the government’s.” He said that the Pakistan Muslim-League-N (PML-N) government, during the past three years, had taken a foreign loan of Rs 5,000billion. “No government has taken such a huge loan in the past 60 years. The PML-N government, however, completed this task within the first three years of its current tenure.”
Equal rights
Referring to minorities, Imran said that Quaid-e-Azam wanted everyone to have equal rights. “Whether you’re Muslim, Hindu, Christian or anyone else, you will have equal rights in Imran’s Pakistan. Everyone will be equal before the law. He also said that the PTI would hold a protest rally on May 23 in Lahore to show solidarity with farmers.
