Will be back on streets as soon as I recover: Imran tells nation

LAHORE, Nov 04 (NNI): Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chairman Imran Khan Friday came out in a tell-all address to the nation after an assassination attempt on him from the hospital.
Addressing the nation from Shaukat Khanum Hospital on Friday, he said that the leader of the Pakistan’s biggest party is not getting justice. He appealed to the chief justice to ensure the rule of law as it his responsibility to do so. “We have tried to get the FIR registered, but all are fearful.”
Khan said he will not stop his struggle for real freedom and would hit the road for the long march to Islamabad as soon as he got better. He asserted that he did not care about his life and refused to remain under the “slavery of these thieves”.
“As soon as I get well, I will give the call for the Islamabad and come out onto the streets,” he said, adding that Pakistan “wasn’t made for slavery.”
Khan claimed that if there was one party in Pakistan that could unite the country it was PTI. “If the military could unite the country then east Pakistan would not have broken away. Only political parties unite countries, the military helps.”
In an address to the nation from Shaukat Khanum hospital, he said that “we didn’t learn from history”. “When I first set out for the march, I was told that they will kill me. At first, I wondered if they would really hurt the nation for their petty interests. I ask the nation today, do we have to stay like this, or do we have to change our fate and become free? Sacrifices are needed for this.” He said he was already aware of the assassination attempt.
“I had already learned that there was a plan in place to kill me somewhere between Wazirabad and Gujrat,” Khan said as he spoke during a televised address while still being admitted at the Shaukat Khanum Hospital in Lahore where he is receiving treatment for his injuries.
Khan said that PTI tried to register a first information report (FIR) over the assassination bid on him but contended that everyone was “afraid because many institutions are above the law”.
Narrating the events of the attack on him, Imran said he would have been fatally hurt if “two heroes” were not present during the long march. “I salute martyr Muazzamand Ibtisam, the way he caught the attacker, if it wasn’t for his bravery the attacker would have fired more bullets,” he said.
Khan urged Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa to hold “black sheep” in his institution accountable.
The stature of the army will not fall if you take action against them, he said. He went on to say that these “black sheep” were harming the reputation of the institution. He said when the army sentenced a major general for spying charges for the United States, its stature was increased.
Khan called on Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial, saying that the leader of the country’s biggest party was “not getting justice”. “CJP, whatever was done to me in the last six months, I can assure you it has never been done by the country even with an enemy.
“I won the highest civil awards, I raised the respect of Pakistan in cricket. The Shaukat Khanum hospital is internationally renowned. I made two universities. And then I created the biggest party in the country,” he said.
He said that the nation has finally stood up and now has two paths before it: a peaceful or a bloody revolution. “There is no third way. I have seen this nation wake up and this genie of awareness won’t go back in the bottle. “Now decide if we can bring change in a peaceful way through the ballot box and fair and free election or through chaos,” the former premier asked.
At the beginning of his address, Khan started berating the incumbent government and lamented how his government was ousted through a motion of no-confidence. “The government could have never lost the no-trust move, but they [the coalition leaders] used money to become successful,” he said, adding that the PTI-led government also had the financial means to engage in horse-trading but it refrained from doing so.
He said that when the PTI was in power, the then-opposition took out three long marches against the government but “we didn’t stop anyone.” NNI