PM uses Bollywood reference to show 'plan by corrupt mafias' against PTI

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday evening shared a scene from a Bollywood movie to show how his government had been targeted "from day one".

Accompanying the clip was the caption: "It is what has been planned against the PTI govt from day one by the corrupt mafias".

The post was later taken down by the prime minister for unknown reasons.

The clip, taken from movie Inquilaab (1984), shows a meeting by members of a political party hatching a plan to destabilise the government.

Actor Kader Khan can be seen addressing the party workers. "No where in the Geeta or Ramayana (religious texts) is it written that the government which has been in power for years should continue to remain. We, too, have every right to form a government, and we will do so no matter what!" he vows.

He says that for the plan to succeed, the party will have to "win the elections". And how will they go about doing so? "By winning the people's trust," he says, pausing to chuckle in a signature Bollywood villain fashion.

"And to win the people's trust, we will have to remove the people's trust from the government," Kader Khan says.

He says the people will have to be conditioned to believe that the government is "incompetent and dysfunctional" and for that, in every town and village of every province, there must be "fear, restlessness and crime" rampant.

His associate then says that at this point, the party will "step out", "get on stage" and "bad mouth the government".

"We will then tell them that if there is someone who can save the people, it is us and a government under us."

Although the prime minister did not name any individual or group specifically, it is an apparent reference to the Opposition's Pakistan Democratic Movement — which has although recently seen upheaval with the exit of two of 10 political parties — is claimed by the chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman to be on track to remove the premier and his government from power.