As leaders exit, Maryam calls PTI's disintegration 'karma'

Following the exit of several leaders from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Senior Vice President Maryam Nawaz termed the former ruling party's "disintegration" as karma for its previous actions.

Addressing PML-N's religious scholars' wing in Lahore Saturday, she said: "The Tehreek-e-Insaf is going back to where it started from. There is a line of people exiting the party."

Several party leaders have quit the PTI in recent days in protest over the riots that erupted after Chairman Imran Khan was arrested. The enraged protesters attacked military installations, including the Lahore Corps Commanders House and the General Headquarters (GHQ) entrance, during the days-long unrest.

In her address today, Maryam claimed Khan was the "mastermind" of the protests that erupted on May 9 and had trained the rioters at his Zaman Park residence for the last six months.

"They were exposed on May 9. Subsequently, he [Khan] was condemning it yesterday. The people who issue such frivolous condemnations should be thrashed," the PML-N senior vice president said.

She further claimed that the PTI was a "terrorist organisation" which had always tried to sabotage the country.

Maryam said that if proof of PTI's involvement in the May 9 protests was required, people only had to check Khan's nephew Hassaan Niazi's pictures from that day and core member Dr Yasmin Rashid's alleged audio leak.

"Which political workers know how to make petrol bombs? The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) also announced that it participated in the protests and supported Imran Khan," she added.

High-profile leaders who have quit the PTI in recent days include Member of the National Assembly Mahmood Baqi Maulvi, Sindh Assembly members Karim Bux Gabol and Sanjay Gangwani, former provincial minister Dr Hisham Inamullah, former federal minister Aamir Kiyani and former climate change adviser Malik Amin Aslam.

The announcements came amid a mass crackdown on the party following the violent protests. The government has said all those involved in the attacks on military installations would be prosecuted under the Pakistan Army Act.

Meanwhile, PTI chief Khan has distanced the party from the attacks and called for an independent investigation.