ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan today (Monday) has asserted that the COVID-19 vaccine will be administrated purely without any discrimination between rich and poor segments of the society.
The Prime Minister spoke to the masses via telephone and answered different questions. The calls are being broadcast live on television and are moderated by Senator Faisal Javed Khan. Pakistani citizens asked questions related to different issues, including COVID-19 vaccine, issues of Balochistan, and the concept of Riyasat-e-Madina.
Responding to a question regarding the vaccine he said, “Our first priority is frontline health workers including doctors and paramedical staff treating COVID-19 patients and in the second phase people over the age of 60 years will be vaccinated.”
He also assured the masses that the government will not consider a person’s socioeconomic status when vaccinating them.
‘Riyasat-e-Madina’
Responding to another call regarding the eulogisation of the concept of Riyasat-e-Madina, the premier said that he believes in the concept of Riyasat-e-Madina because it was based on modern-day principles of welfare.
PM Imran maintained that whenever he advocated the concept of a welfare state people discouraged him but he did not back down. “Every nation that followed the golden principles of Riyasat-e-Madina has succeeded,” he reiterated.
“I have envisaged turning Pakistan into Riyasat-e-Madina and I will do so, there is no way to deflect from this goal,” he said, adding, “Pakistan will also turn into a great nation.” He also announced that the subject of Seerat un Nabi (SAW) will now be taught in the classes of seven, eight and nine.
When asked about Islamophobia, the Prime Minister stressed that all the Muslim countries will have to raise its voice in this regard. He said he has also written letters to the heads of Muslim countries in the wake of France incident. “Under the garb of freedom of expression, the western countries are hurting the sentiments of Muslims,” he said.
GB and Balochistan
On issues of Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B), the premier pointed out that the region can be turned into a world-class tourist destination, adding that he has spoken to the chief minister of GB regarding tourism therein.
“We know that Gilgit Baltistan is facing electricity problems and we will soon build grid stations,” the PM announced. Speaking about Balochistan, PM Imran said, “The political set up of Balochistan which has been historically followed damaged the province.”
“The province is very large with a comparatively small population which makes it difficult to work on its development,” he said, adding, “It is crucial to introduce a local bodies system there if we want to address their problems.”
Corruption and economy
Responding to a question regarding corruption, he said that the country will only progress towards prosperity when rule of law will be strengthened. “Giving the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) to the powerful and throwing the poor in jails will destroy the country,” he added.
Commenting on the Opposition, the premier said that the biggest looters of the country were trying to pressurise the government for the past two years. “The corrupt rulers of the country stole people’s money and laundered it abroad,” he reiterated.
“We have provided names of 40,000 donors to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in relation to the foreign funding case but the Opposition parties cannot even name one hundred donors,” he marinated.
He further said, “We have been pushed into crises during the decade-long rule of the PML-N and PPP combined. Now it’s time fix the problems of the country.”
Talking about inflation, he said that the country has been plunged into poverty because of corrupt presidents and prime ministers in the past. “Owing to flawed policies of the previous governments, Pakistani rupee severely depreciated which led to inflation,” he added.
This is a developing story.
