Sialkot: Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has alleged that a conspiracy is being hatched abroad to kill him and also said that he even recorded a video where he has called out the name of alleged conspirators.
“A few days ago, I recorded a video in which I mentioned the names of those who betrayed the country,” Imran Khan was quoted by Dawn newspaper.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman shared his views while addressing a public meeting at the VIP Factory Ground in Sialkot. He said that all those who had betrayed the country will be exposed and claimed that the government was trying to create chaos in the country.
Imran Khan referred to the supreme leader of Pakistan Muslim League-N, Nawaz Sharif and his party members as cowards and further claimed that when his party was in the power, it never stopped the public meeting. He also said that Nawaz had always played with the ‘umpires’ and forgot about his illness as soon as he went to London, reported Dawn.
“The nation has come out today to achieve true freedom. I tried my best to punish the corrupt in my four years in power, but they are part of a mafia,” Khan was quoted by Dawn newspaper.
Referring to the judiciary, Imran Khan said, “Rule of law must be established in the country.” He further said that there were corruption cases of Rs 24 billion against the present Prime Minister Sharif and his sons Hamza and Suleman, but still, the court is not hearing the case. “Why aren’t the courts hearing them? I was so alarmed when the courts opened their doors for me at midnight,” Khan added.
Khan concluded his speech by renewing his call for a long march on Islamabad after May 20 and asked the masses to come out in droves for the “war of independence”.
Earlier in the day, the PTI had to shift its venue for its public gathering after the police cracked down on its workers, arrested and later on released 40 of them, including party leader Usman Dar. They were arrested for attempting to hold the event on a church land following the Christian community’s refusal to grant the permission, as reported by Dawn newspaper.
The Sialkot district administration barred the PTI from holding the meeting at the CTI ground adjacent to Church after the Lahore High Court’s orders and protest by the Christian community. But the PTI rejected the administration’s request and entered the CTI ground and attempted to push back the hundreds of PTI workers, resorting to baton-charge and tear-gas shelling.
In a video uploaded on social media from inside the prisoners’ van, PTI leader Usman Dar claimed that “under the leadership of Imran Khan we will end the puppet (Shehbaz Sharif government) and imported government of America forever”.
Meanwhile, Pakistan Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb said former Prime Minister Imran Khan was desperate to create a situation where he could claim his public meetings were being obstructed by the government, as reported by Dawn newspaper.
“Neither the federal government nor the Punjab government or Rana Sanaullah had anything to do with this. But the protest by the local Christian community, who objected to the use of their land for political purposes, led to the police’s intervention,” she remarked.
On other hand, former human rights minister Shireen Mazari accused ministers Rana Sanaullah and Khawaja Asif of resorting to violence against PTI workers and called the arrests of workers “state terrorism”. “I want to ask the neutrals and ISPR if it is part of the agenda of regime change,” she added.
On the other hand, a PTI statement claimed the government had decided to arrest party workers from May 17 to stop them from participating in the march on Islamabad, according to Dawn.
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