I will bring a revolution, Imran Khan promises youth
Saturday, April 17, 2010
By By Rabia Ali
Karachi
A sizable crowd of Karachi’s enthusiastic youth accorded Imran Khan, chief of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf, a hearty applause as he reached the podium to address the gathering.
Speaking at an titled “Youth and Nation Building”, organised exclusively for the university students at a local hotel on Friday, the charismatic Khan pressed upon the youngsters to be idealistic and visionary keeping in mind that the youth was the most potent catalyst for change. He urged the students to join youth organisations in order to start a mass movement to strengthen the institutions of the country.
Citing his own example of believing in himself, he said that others had told him that he could never become a fast bowler and a captain at the same time, or open a cancer hospital providing free treatment to the poor.
“Now I will prove to them that I will be successful in bringing a revolution in the country,” he vowed to his young and appreciative audience.
During his captivating speech, Khan stressed upon four points needed to change the existing system in the country: powerful democracy, rule of law, economic justice and educational reforms. “If there is no rule of law then a criminal can also become president. Poor law and order situation has given freedom to robbers who are sitting in the assemblies. If there is rule of law in the country, feudalism will be wiped out automatically. There is a great need for an honest and sincere leader,” he said, citing the examples of able and dedicated leaderships of Singapore and Malaysia.
Elaborating on educational reforms, he said that the needed reforms should be introduced immediately, and called for introducing a uniform culture in all education institutions.
Referring to economic justice, he said that there should be rationality in the tax system. “Nawaz Sharif, who is a billionaire, pays only Rs5,000 tax, whereas Rehman Malik pays only Rs20,000,” he said, adding, “In the United States, 35 per cent of total taxes is paid by the one per cent of the wealthy and powerful people of the country”.
He slated the current leadership of the country, saying “it is ironical that our leaders have invested their money in foreign accounts and they keep on asking the foreigners for money. If the rich people pay taxes then the economic condition of the country will certainly improve”.
Describing Jinnah as his political role model and Iqbal as his idealistic role model, Khan said that he was against militancy and extremism and called himself as a follower of a liberal religion.
He said that if he were the head of the state, he would withdraw the Pakistani forces from the war-torn areas, draw a ceasefire, engage the local tribesmen to fight against the Taliban, and do away with the war on terror.
He believed that this was the only way to tackle the widespread and increasing terrorism in Pakistan.
Talking about the Hazara issue, he said that the matter should be resolved through consensus by the locals of the area. He also touched upon the deteriorating condition of sports teams of the country, saying there was an urgent need to bring out talent from schools and colleges.
At the end of the speech, a number of youngsters expressed their will to join youth organisations and said that they needed Imran Khan to guide them.
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