Pakistan government toughens stance on Imran Khan
The Pakistan government called out former Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday (1 June) and accused him of maligning law enforcement agencies and deserting his workers amid the legal actions that followed the incidents of 9 May.
While one Pak government minister accused Imran Khan of posing a bigger threat than Indian prime minister Narendra Modi, another advised him to speak to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif personally if he intends to work with the government, reports Dawn.
Pakistan's PM Shehbaz tweeted that he believes Khan is willing to go to any lengths to avoid his culpability in the tragic events of 9 May.
"Make no mistake about the evil intent behind Imran Niazi's latest ploy to defame our law enforcement agencies and police. Yet again, he is making misleading and baseless allegations of the "rights abuses" just to distract attention for his culpability in the tragic events of May 9," the Pakistani prime minister said in a tweet, adding: "I am not surprised by his antics".
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
Shehbaz stated that any individual who could persistently use foul language against the state institutions, incite people to violence and attack the state symbols and military installations, and bring down martyrs' monuments could also resort to extreme possibilities.
According to reports, Shehbaz believes that Khan was responsible for a disinformation apparatus that deployed fake news methodically to fool people.
"Everything about him is hate, division and lie," he remarked.
Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Asif went after Khan, calling him "an internal enemy," claiming that he was more dangerous than the Indian prime minister Narendra Modi and that people were not aware of his real face.
"People have so far not identified the internal enemy (Imran Khan) who is more dangerous than the enemy in front of you," he said during an appearance on the Geo News program Capital Talk.
Asif said that he believes what happened on May 9 to be a "mutiny" and stated that internal enemies were posing a threat to the country's unity and security.
Pakistan's Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah advised the PTI chief to directly approach Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif if he was serious about dialogue with the government.
During an interview with Voice of America (VOA), he assured that the Pak prime minister will respond positively if Khan made such an overture.
However, Sanaullah also added that the time was not right for talks with the PTI due to the negative reaction it could receive from the families of martyrs, whose sentiments were hurt by the events of 9 May.
The interior minister also stated that he believed that the acts of violence that transpired on 9 May were committed under Khan's directions.
He also said that any "king's party" was free to contest the election, as it would grab its own votes and would not disturb the PML-N's vote bank.
Pak Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb, also called out Imran Khan on Thursday, saying that his BBC interview was "a true reflection… of a duplicitous and false character."
"From 'one page' to 'I was powerless', from 'US brought down my government' to 'Mohsin Naqvi brought down my government', the liar has now finally put the debris of May 9 on his party workers and leaders," she said.
During a separate press conference, she said that while Shehbaz worked diligently to stabilise the economy, Khan was responsible for brewing hatred, chaos, and anarchy.
"We have inherited a ruined economy from the previous government of PTI, which left the country on verge of default due to its inefficiency and incompetence," she said.
According to Aurangzeb, the Prime Minister, had started consultations related to the budget with the departments concerned and he had formed two sub-committees regarding agriculture, reports Dawn.
"The economy cannot be switched on or switched off," she said, adding it took time to improve economic indicators."
