ISLAMABAD — Ousted prime minister Imran Khan has said Pakistan is ruled by force, not law.
Addressing a seminar in Islamabad, Khan said the powerful are above the law and the law does not protect the weak in Pakistan. He said the ongoing movement of the PTI was meant for rule of law in Pakistan.
Referring to the Dr Shahbaz Gill case, Khan said he was kidnapped, beaten, stripped and filmed. He said this is a classic example of absence of rule of law in Pakistan. He said those who kidnapped and tortured Gill enjoyed complete impunity and nobody could question them. He said police were saying they did not torture Gill. “Then who did it?” he asked.
Khan said that investment by overseas Pakistanis could solve Pakistan’s economic problems, but overseas Pakistanis would not invest in Pakistan until and unless we ensure rule of law here. He said that investment in real esate is the safest, but even plots owned by overseas Pakistanis are grabbed by land grab mafias in Pakistan.
Khan said that a society with poor dispensation of justice cannot be prosperous. He said that rule of law makes a difference in societies. He said Switzerland is the number one country in the world in terms of rule of law and Pakistan is number 130. He said only rule of law could improve economy and democratic governance in Pakistan.
The PTI chief said that Pakistan has more beautiful tourist destinations than Switzerland, but Switzerland earns $60 billion from tourism annually. He said the only reason Switzerland is attracting more tourists than Pakistan is the rule of law in that country.
Responding to senior lawyer and politician Aitzaz Ahsan’s view that Khan makes a lot of use of religion in his speeches, Khan said it was a special blessing of Allah that he came into politics. He said he struggled for 22 years for a cause, not for personal gains.
Khan once again ruled out reconciliation with the “corrupt” politicians like Asif Ali Zardari and said he would not do any dialogue with those who plundered this country.
