PM says ready to play ‘match’ against ‘political dacoits’

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Tuesday that he is ready to face opposition’s every planning and continue the fight against them but would not give them NRO as long as he is alive.

Speaking at a ceremony organised in connection with the International Women’s Day at Fatima Jinnah University, Rawalpindi, the prime minister said that the tragedy of the country is that the powerful do not want to come under the law and seek NRO and blackmail that if his corruption was not absolved, he would overthrow the government.

“Once again, I make it loud and clear that I will not extend the gang of thieves and dacoits any relief in the form of NRO (national reconciliation ordinance),” he said. He said that even powerful former military general Pervez Musharraf has given NRO but he would not give them NRO and would fight against them.

He said that all the poor countries are full of resources but are poverty-ridden because the powerful and corrupt people consider them above the law. I will fight against them as long as I am alive, he said. He added that when a captain plays a match he is ready for everything, so he is ready to face them. He said that he has been struggling for 25 years against corruption and corrupt people and is confident of his success in this struggle. He said acceptance of corruption and corrupt people destroys the society and that is the precise reason that in the US it is said for the thieves that “you can run but you cannot hide”. The premier stated that the reason behind Chinese development and prosperity was that 450 Chinese ministers were put behind the bar on charges of corruption. He said that the “State of Medina” was established by the Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) on two principles: rule of law and justice. He said Pakistan was also created in the name of Islam to make it a welfare state based on rule of law and justice.

The prime minister said that powerful people were brought under the rule of law in the “State of Medina” but the powerful people in Pakistan do not want to come under the law and the present government is fighting to bring them under rule of law

On international Women’s Day, he said his message to the women is that the present government has taken concrete steps to empower them and made law to give them property rights. He urged the society to make sure that this law is enforced, while deploring that in the past women were denied property rights. This tradition of denial in property rights, unfortunately, came from India because in India a female was being considered a property of the male.

The prime minister also emphasized on education of women and stated that female education remained ignored. He said he would pay special attention to women education.

He said that under the Ehsaas programme, the government has distributed 98 percent of Rs500 billion through women and is providing stipend to parents for getting their girls enrolled in the education institutes. He said 60 percent scholarships are being provided to the girls and 40 percent to the boys because if a girl is literate its means that entire family is educated. The society cannot move on path to development and prosperity without providing education to the women, he said.

However, Law Minister Dr Farogh Naseem said that in the light of the direction of the present government, all the structural changes have been brought in the inheritance law and now NADRA is issuing succession certificates in 15 days instead of years. He said through these structural changes women have been given financial powers.

The event was also addressed by Federal Minister for Home Affairs Sheikh Rashid Ahmed and Parliamentary Secretary for Law and Justice Malika Bukhari.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022