Gill’s anti-army statement part of Imran’s politics: Ghani

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Wednesday demanded a high level investigation into the statement of PTI leader Shahbaz Gill against the army, arguing that it was given in a planned manner.

“The statement given by Shahbaz Gill against the armed forces and national institutions is part of politics of former prime minister Imran Khan continuing for the past four months,” said Sindh Labour and Human Resources Minister Saeed Ghani while addressing a press conference at the Sindh House here.

Ghani said the concept of freedom of expression didn’t mean that all the legal and constitutional restrictions were violated.

He said Imran Khan had emerged as the biggest security threat to the country while his cronies thought that they were above the law and Constitution.

Saeed Ghani said the Pakistan People’s Party would readily condemn if any general again interfered in the country’s political affairs as had been done during the military regimes of Pervez Musharraf and Ziaul Haq. “But the present military leadership has made it clear that it has no intention to intervene in the political affairs,” he added.

He said the Israeli and Indian lobbies hadn’t provided funds to Imran Khan unconditionally, as he along with the foreign funding from the enemies of Pakistan was tasked with destroying the Pakistani society, the institutions, and the coming generation.

Ghani said the statement given by Gill was clearly an act of sedition against the army. He said Gill gathered the courage to utter such a statement, as the PTI was dealt with leniently despite its stance against the national institutions.

He mentioned that Imran Khan had been giving statements against the national institutions, judiciary, and the Election Commission since his ouster from power. The Sindh labour minister said the PTI chairman had stated several times that his utterances against the national institutions would continue if they failed to work under his authority.

He said the mastermind behind the latest anti-military statement of Shahbaz Gill was Imran Khan. He said the entire Pakistani nation would never forgive the manner the social media activists of the PTI had ridiculed the recent sacrifices rendered by six personnel of the Pakistan Army while taking part in the flood-relief activities in Balochistan.

He said Imran was pursuing his mission to scare the national institutions, the judiciary, the judges, the military, and the Election Commission so that nobody could dare speak against him.

“Imran Khan thought that he was above the law and the Constitution,” he said. He appealed to the federal government to constitute a joint investigation team to conduct a thorough probe into the foreign funding received by the PTI till the present day.

He said the foreign funding case had yet to be decided and the funding should be investigated from 2013 to 2022. He said Imran Khan was a proven liar, corrupt and dishonest politician, as he had submitted false declarations to the Election Commission, while he also remained involved in the unlawful practice of receiving funds from foreigners and foreign companies.

He said Imran Khan was implementing his mission to destroy the national institutions. Saeed Ghani said Imran Khan claimed that the Americans conspired against the PTI but they were giving their ambassador a minister’s chair and welcoming him with a red carpet. He said if the people of Sindh were kept at the Adiala Jail on the charge, Shahbaz Gill should also be kept in a Sindh jail.