ISLAMABAD: As the opposition parties have up the ante on the government through protest rallies across the country, Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday plainly said that "do whatever you like but no "crook" is going to get an NRO [national reconciliation ordinance]".
Chairing a meeting of party spokesmen, he said that "let this corrupt tola [opposition]" hold jalsas wherever they like, but they would be made accountable for what they have done to this country".
"Nothing is going to happen to the government, no matter where they hold rallies including at Minar-e-Pakistan, as they are exposing themselves in their pursuit of an NRO, which is not possible as long as I'm here," Khan declared.
About the comments made by the opposition leaders such as Maryam Safdar and Maulana Fazlur Rehman of targeting Khan through the platform of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), an anti-government alliance of 11 opposition parties, the prime minister, according to sources, said, "their [opposition] dream of bringing down the PTI government is nothing but like building castles in the air".
However, the prime minister was somewhat perturbed over the rallies, saying the opposition is just exploiting the innocent people, despite knowing that the second wave of the coronavirus is "staring us right in the eyes".
He also made it clear that the law would take its course, if the opposition kept exploiting the people to achieve its political goals, adding the lives of the people were more important than everything else.
"The Covid-19 ratio is spiraling, the deaths are mounting, and the fear of a complete lockdown looms once again, but these corrupt people are holding jalsas at the cost of the people's lives, which is not acceptable," he maintained.
The sources said that the prime minister directed the party spokesmen to expose the "lies" of the opposition, adding if someone was not ready to understand the gravity of the situation just for his/her own vested interest, he/she should be exposed before the masses.
"Let me reiterate that the government has no issue with opposition jalsas, but the thing which makes me worried is that these people are exploiting people despite knowing how dangerous the novel coronavirus is,' the prime minister was quoted as saying.
On December 7, the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) said that the national positivity stood at 9.71 percent with grimmer provincial numbers.
The gravity of this exacerbating scenario demands a national consensus, but the opposition parties is not ready to accept what the authority says about rising coronavirus cases in the country, as they are planning a grand rally at Minar-e-Pakistan on December 13.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020