NANKANA SAHIB: PM Imran Khan took on JUI-F’s Azadi March and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s deteriorating health while addressing the groundbreaking ceremony of the Guru Nanak University in Nankana Sahib on Monday.
A high court asked the federal government to give them a guarantee that nothing will happen to former PM Nawaz Sharif, the premier said. “I just want to ask that if I can’t guarantee that I will be alive tomorrow, how can I give a guarantee for anyone else’s life?”
We have made all efforts to ensure that Nawaz is given the best medical care, he said, adding that they have called doctors from Karachi and taken on board the CEO of the Shaukat Khanum hospital.
“The next thing that I want to talk about is the Azadi March.” The march has been organised by JUI-F with the purpose to topple the PTI government. The rallies left different cities on October 27 and will reach Islamabad on October 31.
“In the first speech I gave as PM, I made a suggestion that all corrupt elements will unite,” he said. “They all first signed a charter of democracy, they continued robbing the country and increased its debts. When our government came into power, we started collected taxes. Half of those taxes we have spent on repaying the loans taken by those before us.” We had no money to run the country, he claimed.
They are making noise that the government has failed, he said. They don’t care about the government failing, they are scared that the government has proven to be successful, the PM remarked. “Have you ever heard of people marching towards a country’s capital to obtain the PM’s resignation?”
He called it nothing but blackmail. “I just want to tell everyone that they can march all they want. You aren’t getting any NRO as long as I am alive,” he said.
At the start of his address, the PM thanked Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar and Interior Minister Brigadier (retd) Ijaz Shah for working on the project. “You have honoured the legacy of the revered saint Guru Nanak is the best way possible by constructing an educational institute in his name.”
History shows that no country has progressed without education, he said. “Our leaders have never prioritised education,” said PM Khan, adding that this is a symbolic step. Many people have criticised our government for opening the Kartarpur Corridor for Sikh pilgrims from India, he said. “Let me just tell you that Kartarpur is like Madina for Sikhs. We can’t take away their right to worship from them.”
The premier said that the lands of the Auqaf department have been usurped by government officials. “I just want all those lands, especially ones near shrines, to be used for the construction of universities and hospitals.”
The class disparity is a big struggle for Pakistan, he remarked. “The elite have taken over the country. We cannot solve the country’s problems until we overcome our class differences.” Everyone is the same in the eyes of the law, he added.(Additional Input From INP)
