Imran ‘ready to forgive all for sake of country’ as he launches election campaign
LAHORE (PPI): PTI Chairman Imran Khan on Saturday said that he was ready to “forgive everyone” — including those he accuses of masterminding an assassination attempt on his life — for the country’s sake, as he formally launched his party’s campaign for the upcoming elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Last year in Nov, a PTI worker died and 14 others, including the former prime minister and PTI leaders, were injured in the attack at Wazirabad’s Allahwala Chowk, where the party’s “Haqeeqi Azadi” march against the federal government had stopped on its way to Islamabad.
The PTI chairman had accused Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah and Inter Services Intelligence Director General-C Maj Gen Faisal Naseer of planning the attack on him. He had also demanded that the three resign to ensure a fair and transparent probe into the incident.
Separately, the Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab — both of which have been under caretaker governments since the provincial assemblies were dissolved in January — should be held within 90 days.
In a video address today to kick off the PTI’s election campaign, Imran said: “I am ready to talk with everyone and compromise because considering Pakistan’s upcoming condition, I again say that the whole nation will have to confront [the crisis] together.
“There was an attempt to assassinate me, and I know who attacked me [but] I am ready to forgive for the country’s sake.”
Imran cited the teachings of the Holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) and South Africa’s first black president and anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela as the reason for his offer to forgive.
“The country needs to unite considering the point where it is standing … this is not a matter of my ego but the country,” he said.
Imran said all institutions, including the judiciary, needed to come together and agree to reforms.
He said no government could think of going it alone and tackling the country’s issue itself. “The nation will have to stand alongside, the institutions will have to and everyone will have to tackle it together,” the PTI chief added.
Imran further said that “nothing is impossible” when a nation is united and decides to stand on its own.
However, at the same time, the PTI chief said that he would not talk to or compromise with “those who steal the country’s wealth”.
Referring to the political parties in the incumbent government, he alleged that he was told to give them a national reconciliation ordinance-type deal during the PTI government and said that he could not agree to that.
