Trained bullies have come out after arrest of Fitnah: Maryam

ISLAMABAD/LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) Senior Vice President Maryam Nawaz has said that trained persons tried to spread chaos in the country.

In her tweet, she said after the arrest of Fitnah, people did not come out anywhere in Pakistan. “Only the trained bullies who were being trained at Zaman Park for the past several months have come out,” she said, adding it has also been proven from the audios that have come out today that this sabotage was planned by Imran Khan himself and the installations were marked where he wanted to attack in case of his arrest.

“The people have also seen these terrorists of Tehreek-e-Insaf with their own eyes and refused to be a part of any protest,” she claimed and concluded that this was a big slap on the face of Imran Khan’s destructive politics and the government should not make any concessions to these miscreants.

Meanwhile, the leaders of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) have strongly condemned the violent protests of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on the arrest of their party Chairman Imran Khan on Tuesday.

Co-chairman Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Asif Ali Zardari has reacted strongly to the violent protests, anarchy and destruction of government property during protests of activists and supporters of PTI after the arrest of party chief in the Al-Qadir Trust case.

In a statement issued here on Wednesday, Zardari said he remained in jail for 14 years but has never allowed any PPP activist to take the law in hand. He clarified that destroying government property and spreading anarchy in the country will not be tolerated at all and those found involved would have to face the consequences.

The former president said that Imran Khan has been detained in corruption case and he should face the courts instead of making lame excuses and fleeing. He said that the PPP leaders spent a major portion of their lives in jails but never took the law into their hands.

Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) Chairman and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Wednesday, while taking a jibe at Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, said that the party and elements that are involved in the violent protests across the country since yesterday should be eliminated and if any institution if it tries to bring them back to power will be considered culprit.

During a media briefing in Islamabad, he turned his guns towards the PTI chairman and questioned the reasons for accepting him and bringing him into power. He expressed concern that Khan is still receiving support and protection and called for an end to selective accountability. Fazlur Rehman also raised questions about the legitimacy of NAB and its use against their party.

The PDM chairman went on to emphasise the need for immediate action for attacking the institutions, including filing FIRs and arresting those involved. He referred to PTI as a non-political entity that went against Pakistani politics and Constitution, referring to them as a “drone.”

The JUI-F chief further said that the PTI workers were witnessed burning cars on the roads and breaking into the house of the corps commander and the doors of GHQ, leading to scenes of chaos and destruction throughout the country. He stressed the need to eliminate such violent elements.

Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb said on Wednesday that former prime minister Imran Khan was arrested in a corruption case.

In a statement, the minister said that at least 15 notices were sent to Imran Khan in Al-Qadir Trust case which was being investigated by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and he was wanted by the NAB.

“Imran Khan was supposed to file a reply in the Al-Qadir Trust case, but he did not appear in this case,” she remarked. She said when Imran Khan was arrested, the PTI leaders instigated the party workers on arson and sabotage.

She maintained that whatever the PTI activists did was not a public reaction, rather it was done in a pre-planned manner. She said the PTI leadership today claimed that yesterday’s violent protests were not done by their party workers. When the PTI workers were damaging public and state property yesterday, why didn’t its leadership stop them from doing so? The minister said that no political party reacted like this on the arrest of its leaders in the past.

She said PMLN leaders, including Nawaz Sharif, Maryam Nawaz, Shehbaz Sharif, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Rana Sanaullah, Saad Rafique and others, were also arrested but the PMLN did not react in this manner.

Shehbaz Sharif was summoned in the Saaf Pani case and arrested in the Ashiana case by the NAB, she recalled. The PMLN had never given the kind of response to its leaders’ arrests that the PTI has given yesterday, she said.

Marriyum Aurangzeb said the country had been witnessing yesterday-like activities by PTI for the past many years. After the arrest of Imran Khan, his medical check-up was done and other SOPs were completed, which negated PTI’s claims.

She said when the police went to arrest Imran Khan in Zaman Park, Lahore PTI workers attacked police officials with petrol bombs. The minister said that no patriotic Pakistani citizen could take the law into his hands and damage government buildings like the state properties were attacked yesterday. She made it clear that strict action will be taken against those who damaged state properties.

Meanwhile, Federal Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said that there will be zero tolerance for those who take the law into their hands.

In a statement issued on twitter, Sana said the government will not tolerate illegal and riotous behaviour in legal matters. He further said that entering or vandalizing public and private property will be dealt with iron hands. He said that Imran Niazi has been arrested in a corruption case.

Meanwhile, the Pakistan Peoples Party has termed the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf a political wing of the TTP while condemning the attacks of the PTI on the security institutions of the country. It said that this is not politics, it is terrorism.

Secretary General PPP Syed Nayyar Hussain Bokhari said the Islamabad High Court has declared the arrest of Imran Khan as legal. Bokhari said the PPP has been declaring the “political wing of the TTP’s attacks” on the offices and residences of national security agencies tantamount to treason against the country.

He questioned that whether the arrest of Imran Khan in the corruption case and burning of the government property is a change. “The arrests for corruption and robbery of the national treasury are in accordance with the law,” he said.

Bokhari said when former president Asif Ali Zardari was arrested in front of his daughter, even then the PPP remained peaceful.

The PPP secretary general said this is not politics but it is terrorism as PTI, instead of attacking institutions, should prove Imran Khan’s innocence in the courts. “The law does not allow burning of public or private property,” he said. Bokhari said the court decision is a confirmation of Imran Khan’s misconduct and abuse of power.

Federal Minister for Climate Change Senator Sherry Rehman on Wednesday termed the violent reaction of PTI after the arrest of Imran Khan by the National Accountability Bureau as very alarming and condemnable.

In a series of tweets, Senator Sherry Rehman said after a lawful arrest, such a burning siege has never been seen in the country. Rehman said the attack on the residences of military officials and sensitive institutions was not a protest but an attack. “The PTI has made a sad history. Imran Khan arrested all the opponents during his regime, but we never set fire to the country and attacked the institutions,” she added. She said that Faryal Talpur was picked up from the hospital on Chand Raat, Maryam Nawaz was arrested from the hospital and the opponents were kept in prison for two years.

In the meanwhile, addressing the press conference here on Wednesday, Federal Minister for Poverty Alleviation and Social Protection Shazia Marri said National Accountability Bureau (NAB) was an independent institution and arrested Imran Khan on charges of corruption. She urged political workers of PTI to express sanity as Islamabad High Court had termed the arrest of Imran Niazi a legal action.

She said that Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) did not believe in political victimization. She said that incumbent government had amended the NAB law under which Imran Khan would now be given remand of only 14 days as compare to 90 days in the past. She urged PTI leadership and Imran Khan to adopt legal ways and contact to court for bail. She strongly condemned PTI workers for damaging precious public property and warned that legal action would be taken against the culprits. The minister said that during previous protests, PTI workers had burned the precious trees in Islamabad.