Imran says people 'are angry', condemns stone-pelting at PPP rally

 

KARACHI: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief said Tuesday night Pakistanis "are angry" but that he strongly condemned the stone-pelting at the Pakistan Peoples Party's (PPP) Sunday rally in the metropolis' Lyari area.

Officially starting his election campaign in Karachi, Pakistan's industrial hub, PTI head Imran Khan toured multiple localities and neighbourhoods in the city, including Gulistan-e-Johar, Memon Goth, Johar and Gulshan Chowrangis, Kharadar, Lyari, Banaras, Baldia's Ittehad Town, Ghanchi Para, Abul Hassan Isphani Road, and Abid Town. 

Ahead of Khan's arrival, there was a display of fireworks.

After landing at Karachi's Jinnah International Airport, the PTI chief, while addressing reporters and his admirers, mocked the former chief minister of Punjab, saying Shehbaz Sharif reportedly spent billions on infrastructure in Lahore but the city "turned into Venice after just one rain".

While Khan's departure from Lahore to Karachi was delayed as heavy rains continued to lash the former, he said he saw the provincial capital’s condition and it was in a dire state due to flooding.

Later, when speaking about Sindh, he said the PPP has been in the provincial government for a decade. The people need to question and hold them accountable for their promises, he stressed.

"I strongly condemn the stone-pelting on the rally of Bilawal [Bhutto Zardari, the PPP chairperson] but the people are angry," he commented.

"Go to Karachi or any area in the interior Sindh and observe the conditions there," he said, adding that although the province was promised 'Bhutto's revolution', no one was provided with "roti, kapra or makaan (bread, clothes, or shelter)" — the official slogan of the Bilawal-led PPP.

Talking about his promises to Karachiites, he said he would "turn Karachi into a city where people would come for employment", "clean seawater and provide it to the people", and "produce electricity from garbage".

"People have occupied Karachi for 30 years and we need to get rid of them," he said, highlighting that people go to Britain from Pakistan but that his party, should it come into power, would make the country exactly like the United Kingdom.

"The Awami National Party (ANP) and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) have joined forces but we will hit their wicket with just one ball," he said, making an analogy from his previous career as a cricketer.

Earlier, during an address in another neighbourhood in Karachi, Khan stated that the decision for Pakistan would be made on July 25. In Banaras, he told party workers that the general elections will be based on viewpoints.

—Additional reporting by Zeeshan Shah