Mianwali
Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday reiterated his government’s resolve to confiscate the properties made by the previous rulers out of the looted wealth and bring back the public money laundered abroad to spend it for poverty alleviation.
Addressing the launching ceremony of Mianwali Express, to ply between Lahore and Mianwali, Imran Khan said during his visits to the western countries, he would urge their leaderships to stop inflow of the corruption money to their countries, if they wanted that money to be spent for poverty alleviation in the developing countries.
The train will depart from Lahore at 2100 hours and reach Mari Indus Railway Station of Mianwali, the native town of the prime minister, at 0600 hours. Meanwhile the train will also depart from Mianwali at 2100 hours and reach Lahore at 0600 hours.
Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar, Commerce Advisor Abdul Razzak Dawood also attended the event that marked the ribbon cutting by the prime minister to open the second Lahore-Mianwali train facility for the people of the city.The facility would charge the passengers Rs 350 for the economy class and Rs 800 for the air-conditioned class.
The prime minister had recently launched Thal Express for the people of Mianwali, before launching the Mianwali Express which had stopped functioning in 1990. Speaking at the ground-breaking ceremony of the Namal hospital in Mianwali, Imran said that development in the country will not be possible without ending corruption.
He further said that he has often been criticised of only focusing on accountability and not working for the betterment of the economy. Citing China’s example, the premier said that under the leadership of President Xi Jinping, Beijing rounded up 400 ministers in corruption cases to turn around the economy. Imran stated that the country will progress and become powerful if it can pay back all the debt it has accumulated over the years.
He added that the country will never progress if people are not held accountable for their actions and former prime ministers and chief ministers are the ones responsible for the current economic situation.
The premier reiterated that the country’s debt climbed sharply in a decade due to corruption and bad governance and inflation, devaluation of rupee and general economic malaise have been caused by the plundering and looting of national wealth during the last ten years.
Referring to corruption cases against opposing political leaders, the premier said most of these were instituted during the tenures of the previous government.
The prime minister said various cases were made against him by the previous government but he stood bravely against these fabricated charges and was eventually cleared by the courts.
He also reiterated the government’s commitment to bring backward areas of the country at par with the developed ones.
The PM said the construction of a state-of-the-art hospital in a backward area will help the local population receive quality medical care. Imran Khan said he had “promised Allah that he would not let go of those who robbed the country”, and, therefore, accountability would continue regardless of what the Opposition did.Among those in attendance were his friend and British-Pakistani businessperson, Aneel Musarrat, Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar, Advisor on Commerce, Textiles, Industries, and Investment, Abdul Razak Dawood, and a large number of overseas Pakistanis.
