Imran Khan remains defiant, says “Haqeeqi Azadi will not stop”

Islamabad [Pakistan], August 27 (ANI): Former Pakistan Prime Minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan on Saturday said that he will help flood-affected people but would not stop Haqeeqi Azadi campaign for real independence of the country, local media reported.
The former PM is holding public rallies in different parts of the country as part of his mass mobilization drive before his ‘final call’ of long march on Islamabad.

The ex-PM said that a nation can only come out of a catastrophe by dealing with it together.
Taking to Twitter, the PTI chief said, “Our senior leadership met and we decided I would do[an] international telethon to raise funds for flood affectees on Monday night.”
He said that ‘Imran Tigers’, a term he uses for PTI’s tiger force, will be activated to volunteer for relief work. “A committee under Sania Nishtar will be set up to identify and coordinate funds allocation based on needs,” he added.
However, “Let me make clear that our movement for Haqeeqi Azadi will continue alongside our flood relief work,” Khan tweeted.
Addressing a party rally in Jhelum, PTI Chief said that his opponents are campaigning on media and that he should not do public gatherings amid floods and heavy rainfall, but it’s not a political campaign for him but a struggle for real independence, ARY News reported.
“We would help flood-affected people but would keep fighting the opponents no matter what,” he added.
Imran Khan announced the establishment of a fund to collect donations for the flood-affected people of the country. He said that he would hold an international telethon to raise funds for flood affectees on Monday night.
Referring to the devastating flood situation in the country, Khan said that these are testing times and he believes that the Pakistanis will come out of this crisis as a strong nation.
“Overseas Pakistanis have always stepped up, may it be the floods of 2010 or the Kashmir earthquake in 2005,” said Imran Khan while calling for the country’s vibrant diaspora to help their countrymen in this hour of test, ARY News reported.
He said that we will have to construct more dams to save the country from such floods. The PTI government started the construction of 10 dams, that will soon be operational. Dams would turn this calamity into a blessing, he added.
Bashing the Sharif government for the poor situation of the country, Khan said, “these two corrupt families took over and destroyed our country. Pakistan was burdened with foreign loans in 2018, half of whatever tax they collected went into paying interest on the loans.”
He added that they urged to IMF for some relief when COVID-19 hit, Miftah should talk to IMF and ask for relief amid floods and rainfall destruction.
“Miftah is demanding provinces to pay a budget surplus for tribal districts, how would provinces do it in floods?” he questioned.
Referring to the recent announcement of the Islamabad court to probe the police officials involved in the assault of PTI leaders and workers during Azadi March on May 25, Khan said, “He only talked about legal action against people responsible for illegal actions over PTI workers and leaders and he was charged with terrorism. They are trying to sideline the country’s biggest political party via a conspiracy.”
Meanwhile, the unprecedented rainfall and floods have created havoc in Pakistan.
Sixty-six districts have been officially declared to be ‘calamity hit’ by the Government of Pakistan – 31 in Balochistan, 23 in Sindh, nine in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and three in Punjab.
Millions of children, women, and men have been affected since mid-June, and over a thousand lives have been lost. People have lost their homes, livestock, harvest-ready crops, and their only sources of livelihood. Infrastructure across the country has suffered massive damage, and roads, bridges, and buildings have been washed away, Dawn reported.
Shehbaz Sharif’s government on Thursday officially declared a “national emergency” after rains and flood-related incidents killed over 900 and left at least 30 million without shelter.
The country’s climate change minister Sherry Rehman, in a statement on Wednesday, admitted Pakistan is not able to deal with the flood situation on its own.
“Torrential rains unprecedented in Sindh right now, Balochistan, DG Khan also at risk. No question of the provinces or Islamabad being able to cope with this magnitude of climate catastrophe on their own. Lives are at risk, and thousands are homeless. International partners need to mobilise assistance,” she tweeted.
670,000 houses were damaged while nearly 800,000 animals died in the floods, the report stated, adding that Tarbela Dam is filled to capacity while Chashma Barrage was about to be filled. Over 33 million people have been heavily affected by floods in Pakistan as the South-Asian country seeks world support. (ANI)