LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan gave on Sunday a nine-point agenda to end inflation, unemployment, corruption and various socio-economic problems and announced that the party`s `tsunami movement` against price hike and oppression would be expanded to Sindh and Rawalpindi next month.

He was addressing a massive rally on The Mall which could not reach its Chairing Cross destination and ended at the GPOHigh Court Chowk af ter travelling about one kilometre in over two hours.

A police contingent escorted the rally only as a silent spectator. But the Old Anarkali police later registered a report against leaders and workers of the PTI for violating Section 144.

Mr Khan said the tsunami movement would reach Sindh on Jan 6 and Rawalpindi on Jan 24. `This movement will help to liberate Pakistan from American slavery, KARACHI: As a clock inside the Shuhada Hall chimed at 4pm, a bunch of kids, talking animatedly, ran towards the first floor where the Youth Café is located.

But as the kids climbed up the stairs, the president and vice president of the cafe sat with some volunteers to discuss beefing up security around the hall.

Running for around seven months now, the Youth Café on Baghdadi`s Sheedi Village Road recently receiveda direct threat from two unidentified men. The threat was about the combined classes of girls and boys in the area.

The president of the café, Nadeem Baig, said that,`it is for the first time in 30 years that I was threatened, and felt scared of coming to the café we collectively built a few months back.

A project of the KYI (Karachi Youth Initiative), along with ARM Child and Youth Welfare, beginning in May 2013, the café is managed by Nadeem Baig and Sohail Raahi, who serve as the president and vice president respectively. The aim behind establishing thecafé was to provide some respite and relief to the burgeoning population of youngsters in the area.

Majority of the children coming to the café are between the ages of 10 to 20. The activities include book readings, short film screenings and awareness programs on dangers of eating gutka and chaaliya.

Apart from other artistes, Sheema Kermani and her troupe continue to perform for the kids, bringing in much needed attention to the plight of younger generation of the area.

One evening, around 8, as the children were watching a short film made by their classmates, the lights went out.

As everyone scattered away to look for emergency lights, Nadeem thought of getting one from the ground floor.

`Suddenly a man appeared right in front of me and pushed me in a corner near the staircase on ground floor.

Pointing a gun to my waist, he asked me to shut down the café, adding that holding combined classes for girls and boys will bring problems,` he said narrating the incident.

He said the men who had covered faces asked him to look the other way as they made their escape. He added that whatever little conversation they had with him was in Urdu and described them as tall and bulky.

The police was called in, who took contact details from everyone around, `but never got back on what they found,` Nadeem adds.

With the area always embroiled in strife, one after another, with a variety of people or groups all at once, it was difficult for Nadeem to point out who could be behind it.

`Religion always had an influence in Lyari, but it never interfered with our lives. We have never been threatened for our initiatives by any such groups before. So it`ll be difficult to point out,` he added.

Also as the hall has MPA Saniya Naz`s office on the ground floor as well, both Nadeem and Sohail were not sure whether it had anything to do with harassing her.

Before becoming part of the Youth Café, both Nadeem and Sohail used to run street schools in various parts of Lyari even during the tough years of the gang war that broke out in 2000.

It was a gesture that eventually earned them respect even from the warring criminals of the area. What they also earned in the process were rumors and speculation about having links with the outlawed Peoples Amn Committee.

Also, days after the café was built, there were rumors among neighbours that the place is in fact a `dating point,` Sohail informs, adding that they largely ignored such gossip until they received a direct threat recently.

The Shuhada Hall, which houses the café, was built by former Pakistan Peoples Party MPA Nabil Gabol in 2011.

He wanted to name the hall after his mother but it was vetoed by other groups in the area, especially the PAC.

The PAC eventually asked Nadeem to hold classes inside the hall, which also led to the foundation of the Youth Café in 2013. restore peace, bring investment and defeat inflation.

The PTI chief urged the government to curb power theft, bring haves into the tax net, revert GST rate to the May 11 level and take measures to let political leaders, industrialists and business-men to bring their wealth back to the country.

He called for taking on the mafia making abnormal profits and warned the government against printing currency notes to meet its rising expenditure. He said the PTI would table a bill in the National Assembly for converting governors` houses intoparks and hotels and get additional revenue. All these measures would contain inflation and provide relief to the masses, he added. Mr Khan called upon Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to join hands with the PTI for getting drone attacks stopped and ending Nato supplies for the `cause of peace`.He alleged that the present government was opposing the PTI actions to get US `aid`.

`Nato supplies were blocked to end terrorism and restore peace which will eventually bring investment and provide relief to the people.

He accused the government of announcing schemes to let (wealthy people) to whiten their black money.

In order to generate revenue, he suggested to the PMIzN government to bring all wealthy people, including three million owners of big houses, into the tax net, plug pilferages in the power distribution system, bring money lying in foreign banks to Pakistan, fix corrupt people and adopt austerity measures to give relief to the masses reeling under unbridled price hike. The downtrodden, he said,were becoming unable to feed their children.

About the performance of his party in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Mr Khan said the PTI government was taking extraordinary measuresand had sacked a minister of a coalition partner on corruption charges.

He criticised the role of the National Accountability Bureau which he alleged was carrying out orders of the prime minister. He said the KP government would soon set up an independent accountability cell with powers to make even the chief minister accountable. There will be no peace and no end to inflation without eradicatingcorruption.

Responding to allegations about power theft in KP, he said the PTI would eliminate the menace from the province if it was empowered to handle all matters relating to power supply.

Mr Khan appealed to people not to elect the politicians who were amassing wealth in foreign banks and multiplying it with inflation and devaluation of the rupee at home.

Reiterating his demand forrecounting of votes in four constituencies, he said it would have been done if the May 11 `match` had not been `fixed` in Lahore. The PTI had accepted the election results, but not the rigging, he said, adding that his party and the masses were looking towards the Supreme Court for justice.

Jamaat-i-Islami Amir Syed Munawar Hassan said the government should hold talks with the Taliban and other stakeholders to restore peacein the country.

`The US has pitted Pakistan`s army against its people as part of an international agenda,` he said.

Awami Muslim League chief Sheikh Rashid accused Prime Minister Sharif of `distributing` lucrative posts among members of his family.

He said the federal government had launched Rs100 billion youth loan scheme, but nobody was ready to be guarantor of the poor youth.