Former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan termed on Friday the by-elections as a ‘referendum’ and claimed that PTI would get into power in the centre and Sindh as well.

“People in Sindh are looking for a change. I have come to make people and the LB election candidates prepare for the Azadi March,” the PTI chief said addressing a corner meeting in Karachi ahead of Sunday’s by-polls which he is contesting.

“Zardari mafia is looting the wealth of Karachi and investing it abroad, especially in Dubai. That is why Dubai is flourishing,” he said, calling Asif Ali Zardari bad luck for the people of Sindh.

Imran claimed that no one could dare to stop the PTI revolution. “We must take a stand against thieves; as people are waiting for change,” he said.

He also pledged to make Karachi a crime-free city after winning the next general election.

Later, he took oaths from the participants of the meeting for joining the PTI freedom march.

The PTI chief has been holding public gatherings across the country to gather public support for another march towards Islamabad, which according to him, will dismantle the government.

Addressing one such gathering at the Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi, Imran said that he would continue his fight against the “corrupt mafia” despite being booked in new FIRs [first information reports] daily “for not bowing down”.

“I’m ready to sacrifice my life for the people, going to jail is not a big deal,” Imran Khan said, adding that he would soon give a call for the long march and asked the people and the students to get ready.

“I will soon give the call [for the long march] and will lead from the front,” he vowed. “Chains do not fall themselves, they have to be broken. Freedom is not given but it is snatched,” Imran Khan further stated.

He maintained that the corrupt mafia looted the country’s resources for the last 30 years and it has been again given ‘freehand’.

He accused the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) government of making legislation aimed at providing relief in corruption cases against them.

“Cowards do not become leaders, but they become Nawaz Sharif,” he said, adding that Nawaz Sharif used to go abroad at every difficult time.

“Every day their cases are ending while people are drowning in the high inflation,” he said, adding that the country’s economy is on the verge of collapse.

Referring to the appointment of Kamran Tessori as governor of Sindh, Imran Khan alleged that one has to be a ‘criminal’ to get a higher position in the country.

He further criticised the government policies and the rulers in their trips to the United States for “begging”. “They don’t have any shame, rather they are humiliating the entire nation,” Imran Khan added.

Imran Khan also asked the students to consider the struggle for “real freedom” as “jihad” and not as politics, adding that raising their voice against injustice is “jihad”.