SIALKOT: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan said on Sunday that he was fighting for the rights of the poor people of Pakistan.

“I will no longer let the people be fooled by corrupt rulers and politicians in the country,” he said, adding that incumbent rulers were reluctant to take any action against corrupt elements because they (the rulers) themselves were corrupt.

He stressed the need for providing justice to everyone and strengthening the national institutions to end corruption, poverty and unemployment from the country.

Addressing a big public meeting at the Jinnah Stadium here on Sunday evening, Mr Khan said that only the PTI had the political agenda of national prosperity and progress and that it was the only ray of hope for everyone in the country. He said the rulers had plundered the national wealth and this nasty practice had made the nation poor.

He said the nation was standing on a critical juncture and “we have to make now a final decision of ousting the corrupt rulers from power”.

Referring to the four-year performance of PTI government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Mr Khan said 34,000 students had been enrolled in government schools by leaving private schools in the KP.

He said it had happened for the first time in the country, challenging the Punjab and Sindh governments to show their performance of serving the masses.

“Please step down as prime minister of the country by having mercy on the nation; please go away as enough is enough. You have plundered the national wealth,” Mr Khan asked the prime minister.

He said the time had come that patriotic Pakistanis must come forward and oust the incumbent corrupt rulers from power as Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was still reluctant to step down.

Chief of Awami Muslim League (AML) Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed said the people of Sialkot had voted in favour of the PTI.

The historic public meeting in Sialkot should be an eye-opener for rulers of the country, Mr Rasheed said, adding that Mr Sharif should step down, otherwise people would kick him out of power.

He said a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) had been formed by the Supreme Court and everyone would have to appear before this team.

Speaking on the occasion, PTI leader Jehangir Tareen asked as to where the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s Rs2 billion Lodharan Development Programme had gone

Shah Mehmood Qureshi criticised Khwaja Muhammad Asif for not visiting the country’s border areas to encourage armed forces against cross-border shelling.

He accused the Punjab government of not ensuring the purchase of wheat yield on the fixed official rate. He said the Punjab government was exploiting the rights of growers and farmers.

The PTI public meeting venue was packed with party workers who continuously raised slogans of “Go Nawaz Go”.

Dozens of PTI workers were injured during a stampede at the venue when some people tried to climb the stage by removing hurdles.

A big fireworks show was also staged at the venue of the public meeting upon arrival of the PTI chief.

PML-N’s former MPA Chaudhry Akhlaq Ahmed and former Olympian Asif Bajwa announced on the occasion that they had joined the PTI.

Published in Dawn, May 8th, 2017