Sharjeel wants body formed to find out how many bullets hit Imran

Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon has demanded in his personal capacity that a medical board comprising international doctors or one at the federal level be constituted to determine the actual number of bullets that hit Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan during Thursday’s attack in Punjab’s Wazirabad city.

Addressing a press conference on Saturday, Memon said that on the day of the incident it was said that one bullet had hit Khan, and the following day it was said that two bullets had hit him, while Khan himself said on Friday that four bullets had hit him.

The minister expressed surprise that even after suffering four bullets, Khan managed to wave to the crowd coming out of the container, raising the question whether Khan is Superman or Iron Man.

He said that one of Khan’s legs had been bandaged when he was being taken from the container on the day of the incident, but on Friday both his legs were plastered.

He asked why the injured man was taken to the Shaukat Khanum Hospital that is 150km away from the crime scene, instead of the Gujarat District Headquarters Hospital that is 19km away. He also asked if any other injured person had ever been taken to a cancer hospital for initial medical assistance.

Memon said that the current situation of Pakistan is not hidden from anyone. He said that some elements are deliberately brewing a conspiracy to harm the country and mislead the nation against its institutions.

He also said they are plotting to cause riots and bloodshed across the country. He added that as soon as the news of the attack on Khan broke, the leadership of the Pakistan Peoples Party condemned the attack.

The minister prayed for protection of everyone’s lives and properties. However, he pointed out, with every passing day doubts are increasing. He referred to journalist Arshad Sharif’s recent killing.

He said the PTI launched a heinous campaign against national institutions on social media and issued statements to gain undue political advantage, adding that the long march was announced immediately after Sharif’s killing.

He also said that Khan’s long march had completely failed because even according to their own estimates, people had not come out to participate in it. He pointed out that members of Khan’s own party had been saying the march would be bloody.

Memon said that after the failure of the long march, it seems that the “drama” of assassination was “staged” for face-saving and to garner the sympathy of the people.

He said Khan had known prior to the Wazirabad incident that an attack on the long march was imminent, as one of his senators from Punjab had also said the same thing in a tweet.

“Who informs them about every incident in advance?” he asked, and demanded that they disclose the source of their information about future events. “If they don’t reveal the source, it will be clear that they themselves are the scriptwriter, producer and director of this conspiracy.”

The minister also demanded that an inquiry be made into the death of PTI activist Moazzam Gondal because it is being said that he was shot by Khan’s guard during the long march.

He said Khan’s call to protest had also drawn an unsatisfactory response, as everybody knew the number of people who had taken to the streets to protest in Pakistan’s largest city of Karachi.

He made it clear that the intended vicious motives behind the protest across the country are unacceptable. Roads are being blocked, senseless acts of vandalism are being carried out in Peshawar, while people’s motorbikes are being burnt on the roads. He warned that the Sindh police will take action against those who resort to blocking any road in Karachi or any other part of the province.

He said PTI leaders had given a written guarantee to the Sindh police a day earlier that they would not block the roads, following which the police had released the jailed PTI workers. He also said Khan and PTI leaders are the most incompetent bunch of politicians who could not even file a police complaint of the incident.

He pointed out that the incident took place in Punjab, where the PTI has its own government, but they are levelling allegations against the federal government. He advised Khan to ask Punjab Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi to lodge a police complaint of the incident in accordance with his wishes.

He said Pakistan is the only red line of 220 million people in the country, adding that Khan keeps changing his statements like a chameleon changes its colours, pointing out that the PTI chief uses undemocratic and derogatory language against national security institutions. Memon said the producer and director of this conspiracy are from India or Israel.