Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday vowed an end to corruption and preferential treatment given to law breakers, saying that he would not give a National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) to the opposition leaders regardless of whichever king they approach to request for them.
Speaking in Rawalpindi after the launch of the Sir Syed Express train, the prime minister said he had promised the people that he would get answers from those who had run the country to the ground and left it so enormously indebted.
“Do whatever you want. It won’t make a difference to me. I won’t give you (amnesty under) an NRO. No matter whom you grovel to or whosoever intercedes on your behalf,” he vowed, directly addressing the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leadership.
“Shehbaz Sharif was standing in parliament and saying, ‘Look at how the rupee has fallen and the dollar has skyrocketed’. Shehbaz Sharif, your family and the Zardari family – if you bring even half the wealth you looted back to this country, you will see the rupee soar and the dollar plummet,” he said.
“I spoke of a New Pakistan and it has already started taking shape. No one had ever laid their hands on such big thieves. No one had ever been made accountable like this before,” claimed the prime minister, vowing accountability for every individual who had left the country in a shambles.
Imran says rupee will soar if Sharifs and Zardaris bring half their looted wealth back
“If you go to the jails here, all you find are poor people. One was jailed for eating food in Ramazan. He was imprisoned for six years and died there,” said the prime minister, as he criticised what he sees as the double standard within the system for rich and poor criminals.
“Those who have stolen billions from the country and taken it abroad say we want food from outside [the prison]. [They want] a VIP jail, air-conditioning. Eighty percent of the populace doesn’t have an AC and here they want it in jail,” the premier said in disbelief.
Someone in the background quipped: “They want a 60-inch [TV] screen too.”
The prime minister then said that he had communicated his displeasure over this state of affairs to the law minister, urging him to ensure equal treatment of all prisoners.
“I have told the law minister this too. You give people punishment so it is a deterrent for others. These guys are living it up in jail and sending a message to people to go big when they steal,” he said.
“It is only the small thieves who have to face a difficult time in this country. [But] the new Pakistan will be one Pakistan; one law for everyone. The influential and the weak will all be viewed equally,” he promised.
Earlier in the day, the prime minister inaugurated the Sir Syed Express, a non-stop train from Rawalpindi to Karachi to facilitate passengers and also earn revenue for the Pakistan Railways.
“The Sir Syed Express aims at facilitating the passengers from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir who travel towards Karachi and other southern cities of the country,” according to the Prime Minister’s Office.
