–PM vows to bring looted wealth back to country, never offer NRO to corrupt leaders

WANA: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday assured the people of South Waziristan that with the allocation of Rs100 billion per year for the development of tribal areas for 10 years, which had already been agreed upon by all political parties, he would ensure the provision of compensation to the people who had lost their houses, businesses, lands and shops during the temporary displacement.

While addressing a huge public gathering at Wana, the main town of South Waziristan, he said that the people of South Waziristan would be provided with the facility of Sehat Insaf Card under which every family would have Rs720,000 per annum at their disposal to get free of charge medical treatment from any hospital.

Additionally, under the Insaf Rozgar Scheme, the prime minister said, the youth of South Waziristan would be provided interest-free or soft loans to start their own businesses and earn respectable livelihoods.

He also announced two degree colleges – one each for girls and boys, besides the construction of a sports complex and playgrounds at various places of Wana.

The prime minister referred to the local government system introduced by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), also being implemented in Punjab, would be brought to the tribal areas so that the people got their issues resolved at village levels through Jirga or jury system.

The prime minister said he would make an announcement about making Wana as a district within a week after consultations.

Imran Khan said that his government is trying its level best to provide justice and basic amenities of life to all people of the society on the pattern of the Islamic welfare state of Medina.

He said that Pakistan’s revenue is Rs4,500 billion out of which Rs2,000 billion are being paid as interest on foreign loans.

The prime minister said that the people will witness real change in the holy month of Ramzan as more funds will be released for public welfare. He said that despite the financial crisis, the government is giving priority to the development of tribal districts

PM SAYS NO TO NRO:

He also vowed to bring the national wealth, looted and laundered abroad by some politicians, back to the country and never to offer any amnesty through National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) to the corrupt leaders who had joined hands against him in the name of democracy.

He said that those, who had come together in the name of saving democracy, had an only sole objective to pressurise him for getting an NRO and to save themselves from the punishment for their corruption, loot and plunder.

The prime minister said that he wanted to give a message to all those people, including Asif Ali Zardari, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, Sharifs and others, who feared accountability that be it cricket or politics, his life was full of struggles and fights, and his main objective to join the politics was to hold the corrupt accountable.

“Without punishing the corrupt, our country has no future,” he said and added that those who came through political struggle did not have any fear of accountability.

The prime minister said that he did not inherit leadership like Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari nor was he made the chief minister like Nawaz Sharif was made chief minister by General Jilani.

He described Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman as the 12th man, who, he said, had already lost his wicket.

PM Imran also presented a brief account of the economic difficulties being faced by the country and said that the two political parties, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) had pushed Pakistan into the debt trap during the last 10 years by increasing the loan from Rs6,000 billion in 2008 to Rs30,000 billion in 2018.

The corrupt politicians looted the country’s wealth and laundered it abroad, he said, adding, “When the money is laundered abroad, it creates the shortages of the dollar and leads to the devaluation of local currency and inflation, which hits the common man,” he added.

The prime minister said that since his mother belonged to the Burki tribe, he first visited South Waziristan 30 years back and also wrote a book on tribal areas. He was perhaps the first head of government in Pakistan, who knew well about the history, traditions and problems of the tribal people.

He lauded the bravery and patriotism of the people of South Waziristan, who, he said, always stood with the country’s forces in hard times, including the 1965 war. The people of the area had created many freedom fighters during the British rule, he added.

The prime minister said that he had opposed the deployment of troops in the erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) on the desire of the United States after the 9/11 incident.

He lauded the people of South Waziristan for their sacrifices, including their displacement due to the war against terrorism.

Earlier, the prime minister visited Bajaur, Mohmand, Khyber and Orakzai districts where he met with the locals and announced several development projects.