ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday said him shaking hands with Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shahbaz Sharif would destigmatise corruption as he reiterated his resolve to rid the country of the menace.
“People ask me why I don’t shake hands with [Shahbaz] as he is the Opposition leader,” the prime minister said as he addressed a ceremony at the Academy of Letters after inaugurating the “Hall of Fame”.
“Corruption cases worth billions of rupees are filed against him. If I shake hands with him on top of that, then I will give the message that this [corruption] isn’t a bad thing,” he said.
“Over there, it is unfathomable that a person guilty of corruption worth billions of rupees would go to the parliament and deliver a two-hour-long speech,” he said.
The prime minister said the standards of such countries are “different from ours”.
“This is why I have established the Rehmatul-lil-Alameen Authority,” he said, as he called on intellectuals and scholars to provide the best guidance to the youth to cope with the modern challenges arising amid the digital era.
We cannot ban social media and the internet, so the only way to protect our younger generations from the negative impact of digital innovation is to familiarise them with the moral and ethical standards set by the Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), he said.
