Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman and former prime minister Imran Khan held an international telethon on Monday to collect funds from within the country and foreign Pakistanis for the flood-affected people, and was able to raise an enormous amount ofRs5 billion on whole.
The chief minister of Punjab, Pervaiz Elahi, CM Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Mahmood Khan, former PM’s ex-assistant on social protection Sania Nishtar, celebrities, and other politicians joined Imran Khan’s three-hour long telethon which was moderated by PTI leader Faisal Javed Rana.
In his message at the commencement of the fundraiser, Khan said the purpose of holding it was to raise funds for the flood affectees as no government could alone deal with such calamity.
“The entire country has been affected by this [flood] … as per initial assessment, losses of over Rs1,000 billion were incurred due to floods and over 1,000 people have died so far,” he remarked.
Discussing the significance of dams to prevent such devastations, former premier said, that the country would have to construct more dams to save people from such damage in future.
“The sole solution to prevent the catastrophes caused by flood is to construct dams.” He said.
The former PM stated that he received many calls from Pakistanis, including foreign nationals who wanted to help the flood victims.
He highlighted that people can donate to two bank accounts opened by Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa governments. The funds will be spent to support the flood-hit people across the country, he guaranteed.
Donations made by Key Figures
Following are some of the many donations made by national and international Pakistanis:
- British-Pakistani boxer Amir Khan announced Rs. 5 million for flood victims
- Prime Minister Azad Jammu and Kashmir Sardar Tanveer Ilyas Khan, announced Rs30 million for flood affectees.
- Senior journalist Sabir Shakir announced Rs. 500,000 donations for the flood victims.
- President and CEO of ARY Digital Network, Mr. Salman Iqbal, donated Rs30 million for the rehabilitation of flood-affected people.