Staff Report
LAHORE: The former prime minister of Pakistan and PTI Chairman Imran Khan on Monday lashed out at the Punjab caretaker government for axing the health card program – the flagship scheme of the previous PTI government – in Punjab.
Addressing scholars through a video link from his Lahore residence, Imran Khan said that Pakistan could not progress with dual law standards.
The PTI chief said that the PTI government launched the health card initiative to give health coverage to middle and lower-middle segments of society who get buried in debt if a family member contracts a disease.
Imran Khan noted that the health program under which a poor person could get medical treatment from a private hospital was lauded by international organizations.
Collaboration with private hospitals under health card program
He said that due to the health card program, the private hospitals were ready to establish healthcare centers in rural areas.
The deposed premier negated that there was an impression that it was necessary to generate money before doing things for the underprivileged segments, like a welfare state. However, he said that the truth was the exact opposite.
He laid down the significance of establishing a just system in society, terming it necessary for unleashing the true potential of its people.
Imran said the West was prosperous because of the rule of law on the land.
He said everybody witnessed the ‘circus’ in Pakistan where the opponents were framed in fake cases and put in jail.
The PTI chief claimed that the government did not want to hold elections in the country within 90 days. “Look at the circus in Pakistan,” Khan said of the situation.
“They say that it has no money to hold the elections, which is a contravention of the Constitution,” he said.
PTI chairman noted that the influential people in Pakistan get NRO while comparing it with the West, where the influential people were ‘easiest’ to catch if they were corrupt.
Imran Khan reiterated that his government wanted to improve ties with Russia while criticizing that, in the past, such foreign policies were designed to ‘please’ other countries rather than Pakistan.
Continuing his rant against the former army chief General (retired) Qamar Bajwa, Imran Khan claimed that the ex-military chief asked him to condemn Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.
“I said that India did not do that. We should stay neutral like India,” he continued and said that General (retd) Bajwa arbitrarily condemned the Russian attack during an international security dialogue to please the US.
Earlier in his address, the ex-PM noted that people get most of their education in English, but it was not appropriate to become a ‘mental slave’ of the West.
He said that such a mindset needs to gain the ability to produce things independently.
