Staff Reporter
Islamabad
A day after former premier Nawaz Sharif’s no-holds-barred onslaught against what he called “parallel state” in Pakistan, Prime Minister Imran Khan said that “once again a fugitive sitting in London is maligning state institutions.”
Nawaz, who was allowed to fly to London for treatment last year, broke his long silence a day before and claimed that the opposition was up not against Prime Minister Imran Khan but against those who had brought him into power in the 2018 elections.
Nawaz Sharif’s speech and the story published in Times of India reflect the same agenda, the premier said while speaking to members of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf on Monday.
“Sharif’s PML-N has once again promoted the Indian agenda. New Delhi wanted to vilify Pakistan’s state institution ahead of the UN General Assembly session which opened on Sept 15 and will continue until Sept 30.”
The prime minister added that New Delhi wanted to take the global spotlight off its reign of terror in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, which has been under a draconian lockdown for more than a year now.
Indian media has been spewing venom against Pakistan since Sharif’s rant against state institutions, he said. An international lobby has been active against Pakistan’s state institutions, he added.
“We will not allow anyone to malign our institutions.”
In a meeting chaired by the prime minister on Monday, which was attended by party representatives and spokespersons, Imran guided attendees on the government’s policy in response to the criticism by opposition leaders at the All Parties Conference.
“No one is bothered by the APC’s decision. The nation is aware of the faces [that were] sitting in the APC and their personal goals,” sources quoted PM Imran as saying. The premier, sources added, asked government ministers and PTI members to respond “with reason and logic” to the opposition’s criticism.
PM Imran was quoted as saying that “in a democracy, all institutions work under the government” and that the opposition’s criticism was “pointless and an attempt to divert attention from their corruption”.
Later, the top government ministers on Monday held a press conference, a day after the country’s major opposition parties announced launching of a three-phased anti-government movement under the banner of the Pakistan Democratic Movement.
Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi asked the opposition not to “drag national institutions into politics. It is not good for the country, it is not in Pakistan’s interest.”
Qureshi noted that the coronavirus challenge was not yet over and European countries were thinking of new strategies in view of rising infection rates. “People calling for a strict lockdown now say that in January and December they will do protests and rallies so look at the contradiction,” he said, referring to the opposition.
