Imran’s long march has turned into ‘work from home’: Marriyum

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb on Friday declared Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan’s long march as “work from home” and demanded him to provide receipts regarding the sale of Toshakhana gifts, including a Graff wristwatch worth at least Rs2 billion.

Addressing a news conference here, she said: “Imran Khan sahib, you will have to answer. Why are you going to the courts in the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom? You are doing work from home, show receipts to the public.”

The minister added that in every country that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif visited, he heard disgusting stories about Khan.

“Khan is an impostor. It’s been six years and you don’t appear in the court,” Ms Aurangzeb said, adding that it has been confirmed from the PTI chief’s address that a bullet did not hit him.

She said Imran Khan sold the Toshakhana wristwatch and other gifts without buying them. “Our watch tells us time, whereas Imran Khan’s wristwatch exposed him. Thirty-eight hours have passed today, but his legal consultations have not been completed to file cases,” she added.

The minister said instead of spending so much on lawyers, the ex-PM should provide receipts with regard to the gifted wristwatch and other gifts. She accused the PTI chairman of stealing the watch without depositing money in Toshakhana and selling it to Umar Farooq, while his [Imran’s] handlers Shahzad Akbar and Farah Gogi took the wristwatch to him, fixed the price and struck the deal.

She said the amount, received through watch selling was brought to Pakistan through a chartered plane, which is a clear case of money-laundering. “About the allegations levelled against him, Imran said he would move courts in the UAE and Britain, but he had put his political rivals in death cells by merely accusing them of wrongdoings,” she charged. During his four-year rule, she alleged, Imran put his political opponents, including Nawaz Sharif, Shehbaz Sharif, Maryam Nawaz and PPP and PMLN leadership in jails, even their female family members. Marriyum contended that Imran says that NAB was not under his control, but if NAB was not under him, he had the video of the-then chairman NAB on the basis of which he blackmailed him. The PTI chairman got registered false cases against his political rivals, she added.

“What inexpensive justice Imran is talking about? He had the PTI government for four years, while his party was in government in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa for the last 10 years, and the accountability commission has been shut for a decade there,” she pointed out. She advised the PTI chief to operationalise the accountability commission in KP and reopen cases of Malam Jabba, helicopter, BRT and then talk about justice. He should also provide justice to the people of Punjab, where his party is in the government.

Referring to the attack on Imran Khan, the minister said she believed that the PTI chairman was not hit by any bullet, and he was suffering from grief of total failure of his long march. “Imran will have to give answers to everything, as people know about what he actually is. If Imran is so helpless that he cannot get registered an FIR of his liking, then he should dissolve the Punjab government. How can Shehbaz Sharif be blamed while he has his own government in the province,” she wondered.

Marriyum said she was not making fun of his (Imran’s) illness in any way, but only a healthy person who slanders, accuses and lies.

She contended that not only the purpose of real freedom march, but the purpose of Imran Khan has definitely been understood by people because people are not fools, sheep and goats. The minister recalled that when the no-confidence motion came up, Imran Khan said that there was an American conspiracy and that America had brought an imported government by conspiring against him and in this regard, Pakistan had to be saved from slavery and freedom would have to be achieved. Referring to Imran, she said that this is a person who disguises and disguises by lying, he thinks that people would believe in his lies. She added that the biggest question mark today is not on Imran Khan but on those who believe him.

Marriyum said for the first time in the history of Pakistan, he was shown the door through a vote of no-confidence, his allies and members voted knowing that he could be disqualified and when the motion was successful, he offered a lifetime extension to the army chief behind closed doors to save his government. However, the army chief did not pay any heed to the offer. “Imran Khan made statements in the open like Mir Jafar, Mir Sadiq, neutral animals outside the room,” she noted. The minister said when the no-confidence motion was about to succeed, Imran said they would close the country and he violated the Constitution and got it violated from constitutional posts and asked to play on cipher. He destroyed Pakistan’s foreign policy and he talked about selling the country’s interests. After the no-confidence motion was successful, she noted, Imran violated the Constitution not only in the Federation but also in Punjab. About his recent interview wherein he talked about putting behind the US foreign conspiracy, the minister said the person who said ‘absolutely not’ today talks about apologising to America.

She bitterly grilled Imran for his disastrous economic policies and also said he shut CPEC projects and tried to stop business of Chinese companies and moreover, foreign investment, including from Turkey and the UAE, was halted for four years.