ISLAMABAD: Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb on Saturday said Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan was trying to drag institutions in politics for saving his skin in corruption cases.
“The complete record of Imran Khan’s corruption is with institutions and that is why he is calling them out and criticizing them regularly,” the minister said in an exclusive interview with a private TV channel.
She said the institutions did not want to interfere in politics, but it was Imran Khan who criticized them all the time and has been making all-out efforts to drag them into politics.
The minister called Imran Khan an “ungrateful person” who always ditched his benefactors. Whether it was former Army Chief General (Retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa, Jahangir Tareen, Aleem Khan or late Naeem ul Haq, Imran Khan followed the same pattern in the case of all these people.
She alleged that Imran Khan offered a lifetime extension to the former army chief which was declined. However, Imran Khan resorted to using inappropriate words for him in public gatherings on his refusal.
Marriyum said Imran Khan was a “fascist person” who disguised under a political cloak inflicting irreparable damage to the country. His workers burnt schools, state buildings, ambulances and mosques after his arrest in a corruption case.
It was not the public reaction but an armed assault on the public and private properties as part of a premeditated plan, she said, vowing stern action against those who were involved in vandalism and arson after the arrest of Imran Khan.
She said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had visited the Jinnah House which was burnt by the armed goons of PTI. Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah had received all the details of those who were involved in such abhorrent and unpardonable incidents.
Action would be taken against them as per law so that nobody would dare to take such misadventures in future, she added.
The minister lauded the law enforcement agencies for exercising full restraint against the violent workers of PTI who pelted stones at them and even resorted to firing on their vehicles. On the other hand, Imran Khan warned of severe sequences if he was arrested again, she added.
“The PTI has a track record of violent protests,” she said while recalling its sit-in of 2014 when they hung “dirty trousers” on Constitution Avenue and along the walls of national institutions.
She said the coalition government did not believe in political victimization and had nothing to do with the arrest of Imran Khan. “Imran Khan was arrested by National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and if the government had to arrest him, they would not have waited for 14 months,” the minister said.
The minister said the courts were giving a bundle of relief to Imran Khan who had disregarded its orders in the past and welcomed the police at his Zaman Park residence with petrol bombs when they went to arrest him in line with the warrant issued by the courts.
She said the judiciary was the main pillar of the state and had the same role just like the executive and legislature. Collectively, all these pillars would have to play their due role in implementing the writ of the state.
To a query, she said Imran Khan was ousted from power through democratic means and the power of the vote. He hatched a conspiracy against the state when the then-opposition parties tabled a vote of no-confidence motion against him in the National Assembly.
To another query, she said there was anger among their workers over the relief being given to Imran Khan who weakened the state, ruined diplomatic relations of Pakistan with friendly countries and pushed the country into economic quagmire by looting the national exchequer.
She said the law of the land allowed them to record protests in a peaceful way. “I can promise that not a single pot will be broken during the protest of PDM workers.”
“We have sought permission from administration as we are not going to burn the state buildings,” she added.
She recalled the tenure of Imran Khan when political victimization was at its peak and all the opposition leaders were sent
to jail. Shehbaz Sharif was denied medicine and even a chair in jail to offer his prayer.
Imran Khan was facing outcomes of his own actions, she said, recalling how Imran Khan made fun of his opponents for their ailments. She said Imran Khan now himself was seeking bails from the court on the same medical grounds.
