I’m up against mafia, not politicians: Khan

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan has declared that more rooms are being constructed in Adiala Jail to house corrupt politicians.With his usual mix of rhetoric, emotions and a few well-placed jibes, set to a catchy soundtrack, he said that he is competing against the mafia and not politicians.The cricketer-turned-politician was addressing a political rally at Bagh-e-Jinnah during his election campaign for the July 25 polls.A huge stage made up of 51 containers – 200’-long and 60’-wide – was created by the party.Party spokesperson Imran Ismail boasted that there were 500,000 people gathered for the rally, and before Khan arrived at the event, the were scenes of chaos as some party supporters invaded the area reserved for women, leading to the police baton-charging them to disperse the crowd.In his address, Khan took a dig at the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP): “(The) Zardari mafia has been ruling different parts of Sindh. The houses around Bilawal House were forcefully evacuated.”The PTI chief began his address by offering condolence to PTI leader Ikramullah Khan Gandapur, who succumbed to injuries sustained in a suicide attack on Sunday, targeting the PK-99 candidate’s convoy in the outskirts of Dera Ismail Khan.“His brother, who was also a PTI minister, was also martyred,” Khan recalled, repeating his mantra that the country is engulfed in terrorism because they brought someone else’s fight into Pakistan.“If we’re elected, I promise that Pakistan won’t be used for the benefits of any other country,” he said. “Our foreign policy will be for the people of Pakistan.”During his speech, he reiterated that army was not behind his party’s popularity.This, according to him, is part of a conspiracy hatched by the international media and the establishment.The other political parties, he said, are used to playing under one-sided umpire, “but we play under the neutral umpire”. Khan alleged that those who defeated the PTI through rigging in last elections are now accusing army of pre-poll rigging.“Those who rigged elections last time are crying foul now,” he said adding that the forthcoming general election 2018 will prove to be historical.The PTI chief also apologised to the people of Sindh for not performing the way he should have and failing to come up with a proper party structure in the province.“It was all because there was an environment of fear because of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement,” he said, adding that “it was difficult to bring clean people into the party back then”.Khan further said that Karachi has the most educated people in Pakistan.“All political movements used to initiate from the port city,” he said, and assured that he would resolve the city’s water woes by managing water distribution properly.Khan asked the people to vote on July 25 for the ideology, not the faces.The cricket legend acknowledged that the PTI has not fielded strong candidates in Sindh, especially in Karachi.“But you need to vote the ideology. If you miss this chance you won’t get it back,” he stressed, adding that in Sindh there are certain areas which are worse than 5,000-year-old Moenjodaro.Lashing out at the Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N), Khan claimed that Punjab was forcefully occupied by the Sharif family.“Abid ‘Boxer’ accepted that Shehbaz [Sharif] used to encourage him to engage in extrajudicial killings,” he alleged, adding that the Sharif family laundered money and took the country’s money abroad.