- Accuses rival party of hatching ‘Bannu rally conspiracy’ to blame security forces
- Claims PTI planned to pit people against the Army to bring the whole system to a standstill
ISLAMABAD: The Minister for Information, Broadcasting, Culture and National Heritage on Sunday termed Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) a “terrorist and chaotic” party that sought nothing but “dead bodies” to get people’s sympathy for political mileage.
“Whenever there was a protest, they (PTI) always look for the dead bodies and tried to get their people killed for blaming the police, the government and the (local) administration,” the minister said while addressing a news conference.
Their nefarious agenda began with 2014 sit-in which did not end with the May 9 mayhem as they still resorted to hatch conspiracies to derail the system and decimate the economy, Tarar said citing the recent firing in Bannu peace rally arranged by the peaceful traders.
He claimed that the PTI like other political parties became part of the peace rally and some of their members allegedly opened fire during the rally which caused a stampede inflicting injuries to many.
The minister rejected the inquiry commission formed by the PTI led government in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa accusing them of their involvement in the incident.
“They hatched a conspiracy and tried to blame the security agencies for the incident. They are uploading pictures of children belonging to another country on the social media and claiming that the people were martyred by direct firing of the security forces,” he noted.
A malicious campaign has been launched in this regard on the social media networking sites to portray a wrong and fabricated story in Bannu, he said, calling the PTI as “Tehreek-e-Taliban PTI” (TTPTI) which, he alleged, was bent upon destabilizing the country by spreading chaos and anarchy.
Tarar said that it was imperative to expose false propaganda being peddled by the “Tehreek-e-Intishar” party which is also known as “TTPTI”.
Their agenda for creating anarchy saw no change with their ouster from the power as they, being in opposition, still worked day in and day out to spread terror in the country to bring political instability and derail economy to default the country, he added.
“This is their mission and manifesto and they have always demonstrated this through their actions,” he said recalling its armed attack on the state institutions in 2014 sit-in which also saw unprecedented scenes of chaos and anarchy.
He also recalled the May 9 incidents when the Corps Commander House Lahore was burnt and other state institutions came under attack along with defiling of memorials of the martyrs.
Their plan was to pit the people of Pakistan against the Army and with a death of 50 or 60 persons, they wanted to bring the whole system to a standstill, he said, adding such a political party should be declared as a “terrorist organization”.
He regretted that the PTI founder ensured safety of his family and left the workers, who were involved in the May 9, to face the law. “The Tehreek-e-Instishar did not provide legal or financial support to them who were actually sent there to die on May 9,” he added.
He lashed out at the PTI founder for resettling terrorists in the country to disrupt peace achieved through the sacrifices rendered by the officers and soldiers of the Pakistan Army.
“You have always been a Taliban apologetic and you were a Taliban sympathizer and that is why you are named as a Taliban Khan,” he said, regretting role of the PTI’s founder in laying foundation of the “TTPTI” which was looking for the dead bodies.
The minister refuted the story published by an international media outlet regarding the lifestyle of the PTI founder in the Adiala Jail.
“I would like to address Ms Christina Lamb who I respect greatly. She has lived in Pakistan and she is watching and observing the politics of Pakistan but, madam you are sadly mistaken; this convicted person, who is ex-chairman of the PTI, lives in a presidential suite. He has an exercise bicycle, a walking gallery and a kitchen at his disposal and he gives a proper lavish menu of what he wants to eat in his entire day,” the minister said while dubbing the news story as a fake and fabricated.
He said the PTI founder held three meetings weekly with his lawyers, friends, family and political leaders in the presidential suite that has been created for him in Adiala jail where he had a sitting area and an exercise time.
“We have never believed in political victimization and nor we did any,” he said, describing his fabricated story as a tool to befool the outside community.
“Mr Khan himself incarcerated people and put them in death cell including women and he is responsible and he used to openly state that I will not let any medicine to get through them in the prison; I will not let them have home food, and I will not let them meet the people. He used to speak that openly and now he is having lavish lifestyle in jail,” the minister said, while recalling the political victimization pursued during the tenure of the PTI government against the leadership of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) including its Quaid Nawaz Sharif, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Chief Minister Punjab Maryam Nawaz Sharif and Rana Sanaullah who were actually sent to 7 feet by 8 feet death cells.
Tarar said that he could say on oath that the government had never passed any direction to treat him indifferently. “He gets everything whatever he desires and so far devoured food accounting to millions of rupee,” he added.
He played some video clips during the press conference which depicted the brutalities inflicted by the PTI founder on the PML-N leadership during his tenure.
About the attack on the Pakistani consulate in Frankfurt, he said the Foreign Office had registered its protest in strongest terms with the host country demanding full proof security of Pakistani mission, action against those who were responsible for the security lapses and arrest of those who were involved in the incident.
“We have requested the NADRA to ascertain from the video whether any Pakistani was involved in this incident or the only one country’s nationals were involved in defiling Pakistani flag,” he said vowing strict action against them.
“It is unacceptable for us as our martyrs’ bodies are wrapped up in this flag and it is our nation that never hesitate to pay sacrifices for keeping this flag high,” he stressed.
“If any Pakistan is found involved in this incident then it is for sure that their Identification Card will be blocked and passport will be revoked,” he noted.
To a query, he said the host country had assured the government of Pakistan of the action against those involved in the incident.
