By Zahiruddin
CHITRAL; PTI chief Imran Khan has eulogized the superior judiciary for its bold steps to purge the politics of corruption which had spoiled the whole system of governance in the country beyond redemption in which only the ‘weak’ were put behind the bar while the ‘strong’ rolled in luxury sitting in the assemblies while this landmark overture has filled the nation with hope and will be at the back of the judiciary.
Addressing a public rally here on Wednesday, he said that Nawaz Sharif has expressed his ill intentions by his diatribe against the state institutions which showed that he preferred his person to everything else of the country and in reality he succumbed to his own packs of lies which he presented before the judiciary, the parliament and the people about the sources of his ill gotten wealth.
He said that the days of the corrupt politicians are numbered as the judiciary has taken a strong stand against them and all of them will find themselves enmeshed in the shackles of law for their loot and plunder and it was the result of the struggle of PTI workers which they had started four years ago.
The PTI chief said that his party will concentrate on four components of governance when voted to power in the forthcoming general elections which included education, environment, revenue and civil service reforms.
Expounding the four-point program one by one, he said that education has always been the most neglected sector while no progress and prosperity can be think of without its advancement.
He added that the preservation and restoration of environment was another major issue as the deforestation process taking place in the past has jeopardized the whole country in the form of floods and other natural disasters as it was on record that during the past two governments of MMA and ANP in the province, forest trees amounting to 200 billion were chopped down illegally.
Mr. Khan said that revenue system needed refurbishment which was presently based on the exploitation of the poor and it was fact that presently the poor was taxed obnoxiously to feed the rich while the affluent class evaded tax benefiting the loopholes of the system.
He said that the reforms in the civil service will be carried out such that it will regain its status which it attained fifty years ago before corruption and graft eclipsed it due to the corrupt rulers.
Admitting to the shortcomings in the prevalent local bodies system in the province, Mr. Khan said that it will be amended to hold direct elections of district nazim so that the parties could nominate and put forward people of caliber for the slot to run the district administration while all development funds will be placed at his disposal instead of members of national and provincial assemblies.
He said that it was the military dictator Ziaul Haq who for the first time placed the development funds at the hands of members of assemblies in 1985 which led to corrupt the system and the corrupt elements contested elections to amass wealth.
Earlier, he inaugurated the ‘Clean and Green Chitral’ project initiated by the consortium of village councils in Chitral town and expressed his pleasure and satisfaction over its tools and methods for cleaning the city streets of garbage and effluence and he said that this model will be extended to the whole country.
Addressing on the occasion, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister Parvez Khattak enumerated the accomplishments of his government in the province and said that the KP is transforming to a better place where education, health and police departments have become models for the other provinces.
He said that the hydro power potential of 1400 mega watts is being exploited for the first time by PTI led government for which agreements have been inked with Chinese government and Frontier Works Organization and the people will get a huge revenue as 10 percent of the profit accrued from hydel generation will go to the district.
He announced to bifurcate the district and upgrade the upper Chitral into a district status making Booni its district headquarters which was the longstanding demand of the people of Chitral since the last four decades.
The local leaders of PTI MPA Bibi Fozia, Rahmat Ghazi and Abdul Latif also addressed the gathering.
Later on, a reception was given by the Chitral Chamber of Commerce to PTI Chief Imran Khan and chief minister Parvez Khattak and gifts were presented to them by its president Sartaj Ahmed Khan.
