Imran Khan says he’s not anti-American

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan said first of all, he wanted to clarify that he was not against any country. “I am not anti-American,” he said.

“Pakistani-American community is the strongest in the US. Why would I be anti of such a country where our most of exports go and where the most skilled Pakistanis live?” Imran Khan queried adding that he wanted friendship with the US, but not slavery to it. He said this addressing a massive rally at the National Hockey Stadium, Lahore.

He said never ever a slave nation could progress. He said there were different kinds of slaveries and one slavery was of fear.

Citing example of the people of Kufa, who did not help Hazrat Hussain (RA) and let the biggest tragedy of Islam happen because of fear, even though they regretted it later, he said there were three kinds of fears.

“First fear is of death, second of losing honour and third of losing bread and butter, your job,” he said adding that when he first came into politics and he asked educated people to join him, they said politics was a dirty game.

The former prime minister said the one who feared death could not achieve any great feat.

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He ran video clips of his decades old statements, which he had still been saying including “O, Allah, we worship You, and we seek help from You,” anti-US slavery and others. He said nothing he was saying was new or just for taking votes. He said he believed it all his life.

The PTI chief said he embarked on the political journey to restore his country’s dignity.

He said because of former president Pervez Musharraf’s policies, Pakistan jumped into war of the US and lost hundreds and thousands of people in it. He said no country in the world would allow another country to carry out drone attack in its territory, no matter what the person of target was. He said the country would hold trial for the alleged person.

Imran Khan said Pakistan could not carry drone attack in the UK to kill terrorist Altaf Hussain, because the UK did not allow it. He said once more than 60 students of madressah were martyred in a drone attack and nobody from the ruling party condemned it.

He said when he was asked through ambassador about his visit to Russia, so he said who were they to ask me where he should go and where he would not.

He said when the Indian foreign minister was asked if India was funding the Ukraine war by buying oil from Russia, so he responded that India was doing this in the best interest of its people. The Indian minister said if buying of gas by Europe from Russia was not funding the Ukraine war and the US’s banning oil buying from Iran and Venezuela was not funding the war then how India’s buying oil was.

The PTI chairman also said that it was his best 14th August celebration. He said by next 14th August, they would have achieved their real freedom.

Imran Khan said he was not going to make any compromising deal with the ruling coalition parties. He said the government was trying to bring former PM Nawaz Sharif back from London.

He said the coalition parties were trying to get him disqualified through different cases and allegations. He said they were also trying to make the army and PTI fight each other.

He said his criticism of the army was constructive as he always wanted to strengthen the institution.

Laying out his plan of action, the PTI chief said he had decided to go to the masses. “I have made complete tour plan. Next week I am going to Rawalpindi. After that I will visit Karachi,” he said. He said he would visit Sukker, Attock, Islamabad, Mardan, Abbottabad, Multan, Bahawalpur, Sargodha, Jhelum, Gujrat, Faisalabad, Gujranwala and Quetta. He said the battle of real freedom had entered the decisive phase.

“A tiger force would be constituted, which would include young men and women. They would run door to door campaign and tell people that they should not fear anything,” he said.

In the end, the entire crowd with PTI leadership sang national anthem of Pakistan to commemorate the Independence Day. They also prayed for maghfirat of all the martyrs from independence of Pakistan till date.