The administration of Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan came under fire in Sunday’s mass protest rally at the Jinnah compound in Karachi. Thousands of people attended the event organized by the newly formed 11-party opposition alliance, the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM).
Maryam Nawaz, daughter of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and current Vice President of the PML-N, attended the mass protest where she launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Khan in a speech.
“When they pressure you for answers, you hide behind the armed forces. Coward! You dishonor the army. It uses them (the army) to hide its own failures. Who gave you this right? he questioned the prime minister amid cheers from the crowd.
In her speech, Maryam also responded to comments made by Prime Minister Khan a day earlier. “Yesterday, you must have seen a man screaming his defeat on your television screens,” he told the crowd. “You (Khan) tell people ‘ghabrana nai hai’ (don’t worry), there has only been one ‘jalsa’ (demonstration). But you’re already worried. “
Maryam challenged Khan to ban the opposition PML-N party, saying: “Don’t even think about it. This is the biggest party in Pakistan. “
Also read: Maryam Nawaz’s husband Safdar Awan ‘arrested’ in Karachi after a demonstration against Imran Khan
In a reference to India, Maryam said: “You say the opposition is speaking the language of Modi (Indian Prime Minister Nardendra), when it was you who prayed for Modi’s re-election, you were dying to talk to him, you gave him Kashmir on a plate … and we are the ones who speak your language? “
Maryam was softer in her approach when she spoke about Pakistan’s military establishment, saying that the PDM was not against the army but only some of its generals.
“To the soldiers who sacrificed their lives, Nawaz salutes, Maryam Nawaz salutes, we all salute. Remember this, one or two personalities are not the whole institution, but one or two people can defame the whole institution. And when they take cover from that institution, they cause great losses to that institution, ”he said.
Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari also delivered a speech at the event, criticizing Prime Minister Khan for enacting an ordinance to seize two islands located near Karachi.
He said Khan betrayed the people of Karachi by offering an unconvincing package and taking over the two islands to build housing colonies.
Bilawal also questioned the ruling party’s strategy in Kashmir, accusing Pakistan’s Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) of weakening the cause of Kashmir. “He (Khan) claimed to be the ambassador of Kashmir. But now, he has become the lawyer for Kulbhushan (Jadhav). He (Khan) has made a deal in Kashmir, ”Bilawal said.
“This incapable and clueless prime minister will have to go home,” Bilawal said, telling the audience that the PDM’s main demand was “real democracy.”
A surprise speaker at the event was the leader of the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM), Mohsin Dawar. The PTM member of parliament spoke about human rights violations in North Waziristan and other parts of the tribal areas. He regretted that over time, people disappeared not just in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), but across the country.
“I consider that this government is worse than a dictatorship because they have made a prime minister like a punching bag. Actually, the decision makers are the Pakistani Army and its agencies, ”he told the crowd.
Another leader who spoke at the protest rally was Akhtar Mengal of the Balochistan-Mengal National Party (BNP-M), who began his speech by mockingly welcoming the PDM leaders into what he called a “gallery of traitors.”
“The traitor certificates for us followers of Bacha Khan were issued in 1947. Our certificates are so old that they are now moth-eaten. Yours are new, so I welcome you, ”he said.
The BNP-M leader also questioned why Pakistan was created in the first place. “Was this country made for us or for the Defense Housing Agency (DHA)?” I ask.
Political observers say the Karachi rally was a success. The provincial government, which belongs to the opposition PPP, is believed to have managed the logistics of the event.
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