Imran Khan harmed country to take revenge on me: Nawaz Sharif

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz supremo Nawaz Sharif Sunday lamented that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan had harmed the country in his quest to take revenge on him.

In an exclusive interview, the former prime minister, flanked by his daughter and party vice president Maryam Nawaz, said, “If Imran wanted to take revenge on me, it was fine by all means. However, who allowed him to take revenge on Pakistan? In the process of taking revenge on me, Imran has destroyed Pakistan.”

Lashing out at the previous PTI government for unleashing extreme inflation, he said, “In the last four to five years, everything has been reversed. Inflation in the country skyrocketed during his tenure. During my government, people were happy and content.” Blaming Imran Khan’s government for the country’s economic woes, he said Pakistan was a dignified country and he had never compromised on its honour as he refused to accept $5 billion for not conducting nuclear tests.

Nawaz Sharif said that everything Imran had done came before people. “Imran has proved to be a conspirator. Those who committed the cruelty are before the nation. He took U-turns on every issue and the nation has seen it,” he added.

Speaking about his wife Begum Kulsoom Nawaz, the PMLN supremo said fun was made on her illness. “I remember all those scenes, how my wife was on her deathbed and how cruelly we were treated,” he added. “I appeared before court when I received news that Kulsoom Nawaz was ill again. I asked the superintendent to let me talk to her. But the superintendent said he had no permission. I was not allowed to get an opportunity to talk to her and three hours later, I was informed that she had passed away. You can imagine what my condition was when I heard the news of my wife’s death while I was in jail. I went to Maryam’s cell and informed her about her death and she started crying,” he narrated.

He said that when Kulsoom was ill, nobody allowed him to take care of her. “I also remember when I came to know that the sentence in the Avenfield reference was being announced on July, 6, 2018, I said my wife was very ill and in a coma. I don’t know what issue they had, but they didn’t listen to my plea,” he maintained.

He said he could never forget the events. “This loss can never be repaired or forgotten,” he said and thanked Almighty Allah who reunited him with his daughter. “Today, Maryam came after proving that the case and punishment were false. Why did we suffer 200-250 court appearances and why were precious five years of our lives wasted? Someone must be held accountable. Don’t I have the right to ask for it?” he asked.

He added that it had been a long time since Maryam met her brothers. “Since the day Maryam came to London, she has been talking to me and her brothers about Kulsoom,” he added. He praised Maryam for being a brave daughter and supporting him through the testing times. “I was in jail and received news that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) wanted to arrest Maryam. I don’t think that the NAB people at the time had sympathy for her,” he recounted.

Terming cases and sentences against him and Maryam fake, he questioned if he was wrong then why he had to face everything and appear before court. He said the purpose of rushing the ruling was that Nawaz Sharif should be sentenced before elections. Sharing memories of his late mother, he revealed that when he was incarcerated the circumstances weighed particularly heavily on her as she had special affection for him.

He reminisced whenever she came to visit him in Adiyala jail, she stressed not leaving the premises without taking him with her. “I used to console her and tell her that it could not happen. Then she insisted to let her stay in the jail with me,” he added.

He recalled how his brother Shehbaz Sharif used to complain about their mother’s greater affection for him. He also recalled how he was sitting beside her as she breathed her last. When asked if he would run for the prime minister’s slot for a fourth time, he laughed it away.