Bhuttos and Sharifs responsible for Pakistan’s plight, says PM Imran

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has lashed out at the Bhuttos and the Sharifs, blaming them for destroying the country and having a hand in the problems the nation is facing today, Geo News reported.

In an interview to Al Jazeera, Imran said Pakistan was rich in resources but the Bhutto and Sharif families used them unfairly. He said his government wanted Pakistan to become a prosperous country and was fighting against the two super-rich families.

The prime minister further alleged that the two families were working to set up their dynasties in Pakistan and were responsible for the present mess the country is in, the report said.

"Corruption is something which destroys a country. The poor countries are poor not because they lack resources but because their leadership is corrupt," he told Al Jazeera.

"I will myself conduct transparent investigations against ministers if corruption allegations are levelled against them," he said, adding that the government sprung into action after a sugar inquiry report exposed the mafia.

About the internal situation of the country, Imran said no country has future unless it has rule of law and our government has focused on establishing justice and rule of law to fight corruption.

He said the current government inherited the hardest situation including the highest ever debt, highest ever fiscal deficit.  He said we tried to cut down expenditures and raise revenue and we were doing well but due to coronavirus pandemic that affected all countries, Pakistan also faced consequences like inflation.

The prime minister said low level corruption is very difficult to tackle and takes a long time but we are focusing on bringing an automated system to check corruption. He said my aim is to establish an Islamic welfare state through a system of justice.

Mentioning government's efforts to tackle climate change, the prime minister said we started the ten billion tree tsunami program and we have already planted two and half billion trees.

Imran told Al Jazeera’s anchor Ola Al Fares that during his long stay in Britain he was well acquainted with the Western political system and has always criticised the policies of the Western powers.

To a question regarding Islamophobia, he stressed for a joint response on the part of all Islamic countries to make the West understand the true spirit of Islam.
He said terrorism has no relationship with Islam or any other religion but unfortunately due to lack of an intellectual response by Muslim leaders the phenomenon of Islamophobia got propagated.

Expressing concern over the Afghan crisis, the prime minister said that they were facing extreme hunger and that the United States should support them. "I did not understand what goals the United States wanted to achieve in Afghanistan. They occupied the country for 20 years in the name of the so-called war [against terror]."

He said the world including the US should think rationally for sake of 40 million people or else the situation would lead towards chaos and terrorism as Daesh was already there.

Imran has warned if international community does not timely assist Afghanistan, there will be a huge humanitarian crisis that may turn the country into a haven for international terrorists once again.

He said whatever the international powers did in Afghanistan was insanity, as they tried to achieve their objectives through war. He said the situation in Afghanistan is very difficult for Pakistan because if Afghanistan goes into chaos once again Pakistan would be the worst sufferer of it.

He mentioned that Pakistan has already suffered a lot due to decades of instability and war in Afghanistan. In case of any chaos in Afghanistan, Pakistan would be the biggest sufferer as the country had already been hosting three million refugees.

Agencies