‘They say I insulted Army’: Shehbaz Sharif, his brother real Mir Jaffar, Mir Sadiq, says Imran Khan

ISLAMABAD: On the issue of using defamatory language against the state institution’s leadership, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman and former prime minister Imran Khan on Monday said that in fact Shehbaz Sharif and his brother [Nawaz Sharif] were real Mir Jaffar and Mir Sadiq.

Speaking to the party leaders on the eve of his Jhelum public meeting, he said “they [ruling alliance] say I have insulted the Army”. In fact, Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz had been maligning the Pakistan Army, and they were the real Mir Jaffar and Mir Sadiq.

He said he would respond to the allegations of insulting the state institutions, levelled by Shehbaz Sharif, in Jhelum on Tuesday (today), adding that “Nawaz Sharif and Maryam attacked the army and charges are being levelled against us”.

He reiterated that a corrupt coterie had been imposed on the country, who come back to Pakistan only to loot and then live in properties worth billions in London. He explained that the government currently imposed on the nation was actually Mir Jaffar and Mir Sadiq, who plundered the country. He alleged that traitors, the corrupt and thieves were sitting in the power corridors now.

The PTI chairman said Shehbaz Sharif's brother speaks against the army while sitting abroad. When he was here, he was just ‘mumbling’ and when he went abroad, he started speaking against the army. He continued that Nawaz Sharif's daughter Maryam Nawaz also mounted assaults on the military but, because she is a woman, he would not say anything against her.

He came down hard on the government and alleged that they were criminals, and a killer had been made the interior minister, adding all criminals are now in power. Imran said that people would chant traitors and thieves at the rulers whenever they would go to public places.

The PTI chairman said they should be ashamed of lodging an FIR against him for the incident at Masjid-e-Nabvi. He said that after May 20, he would give call for Islamabad march and then tell them what to do when they reach there.

Imran said he was waging jehad against the corrupt rulers and not doing politics, and added his party only wanted elections. He added that they had planned to arrest him, but whatever plan they would make, they would harm themselves.

He said that while “our government was ousted, the thieves, looters were imposed on us. Had honest people been brought in, probably we would have recognised them, but we would not recognise these thieves”.

The PTI chairman said it was in the hearts of people that there was sale and purchase going in the Sindh House, but no one took suo motu notice, no one bothered the country's democracy was being destroyed.

“On the other matters, actions are taken instantly, but on this extremely sensitive matter, no action has been taken hitherto and the case is to be heard tomorrow. We will see what happens,” he said.

Earlier, launching the PTI App for membership here at a ceremony, Imran regretted that hereditary politics was going on in Pakistan in which a father becomes prime minister and his son chief minister, and other relatives are installed on other posts, as if none other in the party had any abilities.

He claimed he wanted to make the PTI an institution which should live on even after the current leadership and where meritocracy was observed, adding it was only because of lack of merit and one family's control over the entire party that democracy does not move forward.

Imran explained that they had a data of 2.7 million party members, but he now wanted members to get themselves registered at the PTI App. He particularly called on the youth to become his party members. He again conceded mistake by not giving tickets to candidates on merit in 2018 elections and this was because of absence of technology at that time.