Imran politicising institutions to save skin: Marriyum

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb on Saturday said Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan was trying to drag the institutions into 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 while talking to Saleem Safi, host of Geo News programme Jirga.

She said institutions did not want to interfere in politics, but it was Imran Khan who criticized them all the time and had been making all-out efforts to drag them into politics.

She called Imran Khan an “ungrateful person” who always ditched his benefactors. Whether it was former army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa, Jahangir Tareen, Aleem Khan or the late Naeemul Haq, Imran Khan followed the same pattern in cases of all these people.

She alleged that Imran Khan offered 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 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 a public reaction but an armed assault on public and private properties as part of a premeditated plan, she said, vowing stern action against those involved in vandalism after the arrest of Imran Khan. She said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif visited the Jinnah House burnt by PTI armed goons. Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah has received all details of those involved in such abhorrent and unpardonable incidents. Action would be taken against them as per law. She lauded law-enforcement agencies for exercising full restraint against violent PTI workers who pelted stones at them and even resorted to firing on their vehicles. On the other hand, Imran Khan has warned of severe sequences if he is arrested again.

“The PTI has a track record of violent protests,” she said while recalling its 2014 sit-in when they hung “dirty trousers” on the 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 the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and if the government had to arrest him, they would not have waited for 14 months.” She said courts were giving a bundle of relief to Imran Khan who disregarded their orders in the past and welcomed police at his Zaman Park residence with petrol bombs when they went to arrest him with lawful warrants.

The judiciary is a main pillar of the state and has the same role just as the executive and the legislature. Collectively, all these pillars 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 vote. He hatched a conspiracy against the state when then opposition parties tabled a 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 an economic quagmire by looting the national exchequer. The law of the land allows 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 the administration as we are not going to burn state buildings,” she added.

She recalled the tenure of Imran Khan when political victimization was at its peak and all opposition leaders were sent to jail. Shehbaz Sharif was denied medicine and even a chair in jail to offer prayers. Imran Khan was facing outcomes of his own actions, she said, recalling how Imran Khan made fun of his opponents for their ailments. He himself is now seeking bails from courts on the same medical grounds.