Junoon, Javed Hashmi come to Seattle with Imran Khan and Shafqat Mahmood webcast

Soundbites (English summaries from Urdu talks) from the PTI Jalsa which attracted a turnout filling 2/3s of the Town Hall. I've included anything I was able to remember which I felt was either meaningful or interesting.

Javed Hashmi: [Introduced to the audience as the "cleanest politician" in Pakistan after Imran Khan. Was former senior vice president of PML-N before defecting to PTI]

PTI Flag

- Says he had long envisioned the creation of a new party in the face of a corrupt system, corruption from which not one single department was untouched.

- Says he decided to join PTI after a near-death experience. Having faced a stroke and having had a dialogue with God, he decided to defect.

- A few people in the audience began chants in his favor which caught on "Eik Bahadur Adami: Hashmi, Hashmi" (One Couragous man: Hashmi, Hashmi) and "Baghi, Baghi" (Rebel, Rebel).

- Told of his amazement at the affluence of Pakistani-Americans who held major positions in local companies here in Seattle. Explained how he had previously witnessed the menial wage jobs performed by talented Pakistanis in many countries abroad, such as the Arab states, and that he was amazed at how successful the community had become here and what great potential they had to help not only America in her growth and development but also Pakistan.

- Mentioned how expatriates of other nations often abandoned their countries and burned bridges, while Pakistanis everywhere feel invested in Pakistan.

Shafqat Mahmood: [Central Information Secretary for PTI]

- Encouraged investment in Pakistan. Spoke of how somebody he knew had invested back home, and upon arriving there, found that somebody else had established property on his land. Upon going to the police, he himself was arrested. He said he envisions a Pakistan where outside investments can be made safely (which also implies that PTI is in favor of expanding foreign investment in Pakistan by presenting enhanced security for outsiders as well).

- Mentioned how some people wanted PTI to expand more on actual policies they would have (as much of the support, reminiscent to that of Barrack Obama here in the states, comes from people who blindly hope in change having been disillusioned by their other options). Argued that these people were just the elites without actually expanding on this criticism of the party.

Imran Khan: [The face of PTI, it's chairman and founder]

Imran Khan via Skype

- Spoke of how he envisioned that the masses of Pakistan would one day have the ability to elect all upper politicians democratically.

- Mentioned the corruption that mars Pakistani politics.

Salman Ahmad: [The man who formed Junoon, introduced as having come to entertain the audience free of charge across the states]

- Quoted an English translation of a couplet from Allama Iqbal: Poets dream up Nations. Politicians destroy them.

- Spoke of the enthusiasm he saw and his own dream for Pakistan's future.