Do-or-die: Imran Khan optimistic about 'successful' Sept 21 Lahore rally

• Ex-PM for full discussion on proposed Constitutional changes. 
• PTI founder says people should not be afraid of going to jail. 
• "I've been in jail for 15 months, ready to stay in jail even more".

ISLAMABAD: Incarcerated Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan has expressed optimism about the success of his party's rally in Lahore, slated for tomorrow (Saturday), saying that holding the event is a do-or-die situation.

The former ruling party is hardwired to hold a public gathering in the capital city of Punjab in the face of any obstacles the government can put in place. 

The ousted prime minister, while speaking to reporters at Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi on Thursday, said that the nation would come out to attend the rally regardless of any situation they face.

"I have been in jail for 15 months and ready to stay in jail even more. People should not be afraid of going to jail," he said, adding that he had been telling the party for 28 years to follow the Constitution.

"The Constitution gives us the right to assemble. I ask the nation to come out for their future on September 21 in Lahore. The Supreme Court is the last institution from which people have expectations. If the Supreme Court is also destroyed, Pakistan will become a banana republic,” he added.

The cricketer-turned-politician also said there should have been a full discussion on the proposed amendments to the Constitution, adding that the intention behind the amendments in the dark of the night was now known.

"To destroy the Supreme Court is to destroy democracy, and to destroy democracy is to destroy freedom. When freedom is destroyed, people become slaves," he said.

He said people have been jailed for a year without trial, while three umpires are being granted extensions through constitutional amendments. The future of Pakistan is linked to investment, and no one would invest in Pakistan except Pakistanis living abroad, he added.

“Zardari and Nawaz Sharif ran out twice, and now they will run out again, everyone knows that their money is lying outside,” Khan added.

"During our government, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) collected Rs480 billion and Rs1,100 billion were to be collected more. They were given to NRO-2, and now NAB is left only to take revenge,” he said.

The jailed PTI leader went on to question the source of Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi's income, claiming that the security czar had five million dollars lying abroad.

He said that Naqvi had justified money laundering.

£190m pounds case

Islamabad’s special accountability court is set to hear the £190m pounds case against Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi today (Friday)

During the hearing on Thursday, Khan's lawyer Zaheer Abbas Chaudhry completed the cross-examination of the last witness of NAB and the reference investigating officer, Mian Umar Nadeem.

The NAB lawyers requested that Bushra Bibi’s lawyer should also start the cross-examination of the IO.

Bushra's counsel Usman Riaz Gul will cross-examine the same witness today.