ISLAMABAD/LAHORE: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif Saturday drew parallels between Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan with the extremist Indian organisation Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) as police and his party workers continue to clash in Lahore.
“If anyone had any doubt, Imran Niazi’s antics of the last few days have laid bare his fascist and militant tendencies,” the prime minister said in a tweet.
“From using people as human shields to throwing petrol bombs at police to leading ‘jathas’ to intimidate judiciary, he has taken a leaf out of the RSS book,” he added.On the other hand, Senior Vice President of PMLN Maryam Nawaz said if there was a woman in Zaman Park house, then who was firing bullets and throwing petrol bombs at the police from inside.
In her twitter message, she said “think before you lie”. Maryam Nawaz also shared a video on the social networking website Twitter in which a petrol bomb was being thrown at the officials from inside Imran’s residence.
In another tweet, she took a jibe at Imran, writing: “Come to me to mark my presence.”
Maryam also wrote in her statement that she had said that this was a terrorist group whose leader was keeping miscreants and trained terrorists in his house to avoid the law and punishment.
Meanwhile, addressing a press conference in Lahore, Federal Minister for Interior Rana Sanaullah said that evidence collected during the police operation at former prime minister Imran Khan’s Zaman Park residence was enough to file a reference to ban the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) as a political party.
The minister said that there was a judicial procedure to declare the PTI as a rogue party, which will be considered by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN)’s legal team.
He said the Punjab Police took action against a no-go area with the help of other law enforcement agencies.
He said the so-called political leader had created an environment which was cleaned. He said Imran Khan started the ‘Jail Bharo’ movement and deployed women in the bunkers made outside his home.
“When there was resistance to complying with the court order, the impression was strengthened that this could be a terrorist organisation here,” he said.
He said the police did not enter the residential area despite having a search warrant.
Sana revealed that 65 persons were arrested from outside the house, majority of whom did not belong to Punjab and their role was doubtful.
Arms, grenades, petrol bomb making equipment had also been recovered from there which were used against the police.
“Let the nation see what is the character of this person,” he said, adding, the aim of Imran was to spread sedition and anarchy in the country and he was pursuing such an agenda for the past 10 years.
Sana said during his tenure as prime minister, Imran said he will control money laundering and alleged that at the same time Farah Gogi has done money laundering of Rs12 billion. Imran Khan also transferred property worth Rs7 billion in the name of Al-Qadir Trust, the interior minister alleged.
“The thefts of Toshakhana and Tyrian case are before everyone,” he said, adding that Imran had refused to appear in court for the fear of punishment.
“Our police insisted on complying with the court order and created so much pressure that Imran had to say that he would appear in court.”
Sana said armed miscreants were present at Zaman Park. He said a day before the court appearance, the PTI chairman was granted interim bail in all the cases and was also granted pre-arrest bail. Such behaviour will contribute towards making Imran Khan more disobedient and he will bully the state more.
“Today we offered him security but he thinks it more appropriate to go as a group,” he said and maintained that the order of the court was that people should be allowed to enter according to a list and no one else should be allowed to enter. The media was also ordered to report from outside, but later the court allowed the media to cover him and Imran Niazi reached the court premises with a group of at least 300 to 400 armed men and said that he wanted to go to the court with them, the minister said.
“We have records that at least 100 of them were armed,” he said, adding that police had to use force to remove people from the court’s gate.
He said the court should have ordered him to get out of the car and present himself before the judge, and “if this had happened or if this fitna had been caught and ordered to be brought to court, his mischief would have been curbed.”
The interior minister said it was very unfortunate that the PTI chairman was allowed to mark attendance in the car. “I heard that the signature file is also lost,” he said and maintained that we have immense respect for the judiciary and such attitude had increased Imran’s rebel nature and defiance.
He said Imran was a coward and afraid of jail but during his tenure he himself kept people in jail for months. He said while in jail, he didn’t allow his opponents to have food from their home.
Sana said that Imran was putting the law of the land at stake. “This judicial attitude is the reason for this insolence and misbehaviour,” he claimed, adding, the former prime minister sank the country and the economy.
To a question, he said the establishment was repenting and was not playing any role in politics. The nation should recognise that Imran wanted fitna, mischief and anarchy. To another question, he said Maryam Nawaz had spoken according to her assessment.
Replying to a question, he claimed that the things found in Imran Khan’s house included many prohibited items. He claimed that if the ‘unusual relief’ was denied to him, Imran would straighten up within days.
The interior minister said the PTI chairman was using the threat to his life as an excuse to dodge the courts.
Separately, addressing the media at the PMLN Secretariat in Model Town, Federal Law Minister Azam Nazir Tarar said that in the past, politicians faced the courts and the law despite injustices,
He said that politics does not teach the lesson of carrying sticks, throwing stones, tear gas and attacking the government. He added that impossible scenes were seen in Islamabad.
No one was being awarded life imprisonment, said Tarar. He further added that the person is determined not to surrender before the law. He shared that the courts were opened in the evening and granted bail to him in nine cases.
Tarar said that public property and government vehicles were damaged in Islamabad. They flouted the law by making a shield for miscreants. In Punjab, the caretaker government appointed the chief secretary and IGP, he added.
The law minister said a neutral interim Punjab government was forced to take action to clear the state within the state at Zaman Park.
He claimed locals at Zaman Park were satisfied with the operation, as they were trapped in the fortified area over the past few days.
He also claimed the operation in the locality was not political revenge.
He further added that no politician could try take arbitrary decisions by gathering groups of miscreants.
The law minister said that Nawaz Sharif was the prime minister three times, but he never tried to attack the courts. Asif Ali Zardari also did not do this, said Tarar, adding that “fascism is never permanent”.
These elements are openly calling for rebellion, he said. The law minister said that law and justice must take its course.
The higher judiciary is expected to see the behavior of the petitioner while giving such facilities.
“Today, even after going to the door of the court, he did not go to the court,” he added.
There is a question mark that who provided the tear gas shells to the miscreants in Islamabad, he said.
Courts should dispel the impression that justice is not the same for all, said the law minister. He further added that the patience of the state should not be tested.
“Why are the names of some judges being discussed on social media,” he questioned, adding, there must be a reason.
While addressing a press conference at the party’s Model Town office on Saturday evening, Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb questioned whether the justice was afraid of terrorism, threats and armed groups.
She said that Imran was not afraid of breaking the Constitution and hatching conspiracies against the country. “Today a thief, corrupt, liar and terrorist is roaming openly,” she maintained.
The federal minister said that Imran had to be indicted in the Toshakhana case.
The Supreme Court also called Imran’s dissolution of the assemblies a violation of the Constitution. She said Imran didn’t appear in the courts during several hearings and he was still getting relief.
She said Imran was crying about his illness on every forum but was ever ready to lead a rally, jalsa or sit-in in the country. “The crimes of foreign funding, Tyrian and Toshakhana are known to everyone,” she said, adding, one person has a stick while the other side was using Kalashnikovs and goes to the court with slings.
The information minister further said that petrol bombs were thrown on police vans, batons and weapons were being brandished on the vehicle of Imran while entering the court, and the person, who injured 65 policemen, got bail easily.
Similarly, Special Assistant to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and PMLN leader Atta Tarar has tweeted that Fawad Chaudhry’s talk of tanks and cannons was an exaggeration and the former information minister knew about all the other things that happen at Imran’s residence. “Fawad Chaudhry has confessed to the crime,” he added.
