Prime Minister Imran Khan Friday stressed that his government will not let any armed groups function in Pakistan and is committed to implementing the National Action Plan (NAP) in letter and spirit.
“This government will not allow Pakistan’s land to be used for any kind of outside terrorism,” Khan said while addressing a rally in Tharparkar. “We will not allow any militant group to function in our country now,” he said, adding that there is a huge desire to build a peaceful and stable Pakistan. “God willing, you will see that a new era is emerging,” he added.
“After becoming the prime minister, in my first conversation with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, we talked about growing poverty in the South Asian region and how Pakistan and India should try and resolve their issues,” the prime minister said while speaking about the recent unrest between Pakistan and India. “But I did not know that as soon as their election campaign began, their purpose was to gain votes by spreading hate,” he lamented.
“Pakistan wants peace in the region and this is the reason why we sent the captured Indian pilot back to his country even after continued Indian aggression. India should be informed that Pakistan will give a befitting response to any future aggression,” he warned. “We returned the pilot because we don’t want war. We decided that if you [India] have casualties in Pulwama, we are willing to provide help. However, no one should mistake this for fear,” he added.
During his address, the prime minister spoke on Karachi and how the metropolitan city had been destroyed by one person. “We saw Karachi was destroyed as one person spread hate for power. If there was no politics of hate in Karachi, it would have been rivaling Dubai today. People left their businesses because one person decided to spread hate for his power,” he lamented.
The prime minister also criticised Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto, saying that he only became a leader after changing his name ‘from Zardari to Bhutto’. While indirectly referring to Bilawal, Imran told those in attendance that it was ‘unfortunate that the leader of Sindh does not know what struggle is’. “He became a leader by changing his name from Zardari to Bhutto. Leaders are made from struggle and stand on an ideology,” he said.
Commenting on Bilawal’s speech in the National Assembly, the prime minister said since the PPP chairman had not roamed around the country, he was unaware of the fact that only a few people speak English in Pakistan. “The English spoken by Bilawal was not understood by people in the assembly as well, especially the members of PML-N and JUI. They were so stressed after listening to it that the prayed in the wrong direction,” he mocked.
The prime minister said he came to Thar because it was the most backward area of the country and almost half of the residents were Hindu. He said unlike India where minorities were being targeted, his government stood with the people of the Hindu community and would not tolerate any injustice against them. “In this Pakistan, it is our responsibility to ensure that minorities are equal citizens and will not be discriminated against,” he stressed, adding that the politics of Modi is to divide people. “When a leader starts this, his workers do what is happening to Kashmiris in India after the Pulwama attack,” he lamented.
The prime minister announced that 112,000 health cards would be distributed in the district in the first phase, and in the future, all households of Thar would be provided with these cards.
He referred to the coal of Tharparkar as black gold and how this would change the destiny of the area and Pakistan. “We will try to give back the money earned from backward areas to the locals first. We will run solar plants in your area because this is the best way to provide electricity to the people of Thar,” he said.
The prime minister announced that two modern mobile hospitals and four ambulances will also be provided for the region. “The other thing I want to do for you all is that two mobile hospitals will start functioning immediately. They will be vehicles equipped with surgical equipment so that surgeries can be performed and will have a pharmacy and medical staff. These mobile hospitals will travel around the district and be able to reach far-flung areas. I will also make sure four ambulances are immediately provided for the ease of people in far-flung areas who wish to seek treatment,” he announced.
Published in Daily Times, March 9th 2019.
