ISLAMABAD: PTI chairman Imran Khan on Monday hit back at Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for accusing him of maligning the army, saying that he was well aware of the importance of key state institutions.
Addressing a gathering of party leaders in Islamabad, Imran hit out at PM Shehbaz, saying: “He (Shehbaz) is a liar. He is unable to speak the truth. He says that Imran Khan vilified the army. Tomorrow, I have a rally in Jhelum where I will give you (Shehbaz) an answer about the extent to which I insulted and what you traitors did with the country.”
He claimed that Shehbaz and his brothers were Pakistan’s “real Mir Sadiq and Mir Jafar”, accusing them of transferring money earned through corruption abroad. “These are the people responsible for the current state of the country,” he said.
PTI Chairman termed his anti-government campaign a “jihad” and said it was not political. He said claimed the government wants to arrest him but warned it that all “plans” against him would backfire.
Khan said, “criminals” were sitting in the Parliament and wondered how would Pakistan progress if the “corrupt” people ruled the country. He claimed that India celebrated when the incumbent government came into power.
“I have no properties outside, I will stay in Pakistan. I will never want something which damages my country,” the PTI chairman said, slamming the government for “having an FIR registered” against him.
Moving on, the PTI chairman said his party only wanted one thing: early elections — which has been the PTI’s demand after their ousted as it has refused to accept the new government.
Khan told his workers that he would give the call to Islamabad after May 20 and asked the workers who could not join him in the federal capital to protest in their respective cities once the march begins.
The PTI chairman said it was incumbent on his party workers to reach out to the people, engage them, and ask them to participate in the anti-government protest.
Talking about when he was in power, Khan said overseas Pakistanis had sent unprecedented remittances, and had it not been for their money, the country would have defaulted.
“Overseas Pakistanis send their money to Pakistan, and the corrupt leaders here siphon it abroad,” referring to the government leaders. “Tell me, which country’s prime minister lives in the most expensive area of London?”
The ex-prime minister said when his party came into power, the external debt was at a historic high of $20 billion. “But we brought in the most dollars and increased the exports.”
The PTI chairman said there was record agricultural growth during their tenure and unemployment was also substantially reduced. He added that his government, despite facing COVID, saved the economy
He also hit out at the new government for saying it had come into power during tough times, saying in reality it was the PTI government that faced a tough time. “They had left behind a current account deficit of Rs20 billion,” he said while highlighting the achievements of his government.
Turning his guns on the Sharif family, he said that Nawaz used to badmouth the army when he fled abroad while Maryam was also doing the same.
Imran said a “group of corrupt rulers” had assumed power with the help of foreign elements, adding Israel, India and those behind fueling Muslim sentiments through blasphemous caricatures were among the happiest on his exit.
The PTI chief said the incumbent rulers will face a strong public reaction wherever they visited. “There is extreme resentment among the public on what happened with the country and the toppling of the elected government.”
He lamented that Donald Lu, a man with the rank of a secretary, was ordering the elected government to remove the prime minister. “I challenge them to send a similar letter to India and see their reaction.”
The PTI chairman stated that the “foreign plotters” knew PM Shehbaz was going to be the next premier, hence they assured Pakistan of “forgiving” the country once the change in power took place.
It may be recalled that during his speech in the National Assembly today, PM Shehbaz criticized Imran for his comments regarding state institutions the previous day and said that action should be taken against him within the ambit of the law and the Constitution.
The prime minister reiterated that if Imran’s comments were not clamped down on then “nothing would be left” and there would be a crisis in the country. He lambasted the PTI chairman for taking the country in a direction where democracy could be eliminated.
