Pakistan’s ex-PM to hold international telethon; celebrities urge citizens to help flood victims
- 27 Aug 2022
Gulf Today Report
Former prime minister and Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Saturday announced that he would hold an international telethon to raise funds for flood affectees on Monday night.
"Our senior leadership met and we decided I would do [an] international telethon to raise funds for flood affectees on Monday night," the former premier wrote on his official Twitter handle.
He said that “Imran Tigers,” a term he uses for PTI's tiger force, will be activated to volunteer for relief work. "A committee under Sania Nishtar will be set up to identify and coordinate funds allocation based on needs," he added.
Meanwhile, celebrities are using their influence for good and encouraging netizens to donate. Singer and actor Farhan Saeed pushed his followers to “do charity” and spread the message to help “our people” in this time of need.
Actor Ahsan Khan shared a video of a child affected by the floods, expressing his distress with the current situation. He shared the death toll and damage statistics and said, “Let’s help them together!”
Actor Neelam Muneer criticised the leaders who are not taking significant action to help the “homeless, displaced, devastated” flood affectees and asked, “How will they justify themselves in front of Allah Almighty? “
Amar Khan highlighted the severity of the situation and asked her followers to “help in whatever capacity” possible. If not anything, she asked them to raise their hands to pray for them, at the very least.
Cricketer Shaheen Afridi requested all citizens to help and donate as much as possible. “Let us come out of this as a nation,” he said.
Earlier, the Shahbaz Sharif’s government has called on the international community to help as it struggles to cope with the aftermath of torrential rains that have triggered massive floods, killing nearly 1,000 people.
On Friday during his visit to the flood-hit areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, Imran announced the construction of 10 more dams in the province to avoid the recurrence of the devastation caused by the ongoing super deluge in the province.
Imran visited Dera Ismail Khan and Tank districts and interacted with the flood victims at a relief camp set up at the Ratta Kulachi Sports Complex. Accompanied by KP Chief Minister Mahmood Khan, the former PM reviewed the relief and rehabilitation activities in the affected areas.
“We can easily store water if we had dams,” the former prime minister said. “A dam should also be built on Mount Sulaiman. The sole solution to prevent the catastrophes caused by flood is to construct dams.”
Imran said that current floods were more destructive than those in 2010, adding that Sindh and Balochistan were the most-affected provinces by rains and floods. He directed the party's volunteers to help and serve the flood-affected people.
