Staff Reporter
Islamabad
Prime Minister Imran Khan on Saturday, condemned the offensive language used by former premier Nawaz Sharif against military the leadership. PM promise to make full efforts for Sharif’s repatriation from London and to put him in a common prison and revoke VIP jail facility for looter’s.
“Now I will try my best to bring you back and put you in common prison, not VIP. Those who loot few hundreds of thousand rupees stay in common prison but those who laundered billions stay in VIP jail. Come back and see where I put you,” he said addressing the Tiger Force Convention here.
Imran lashed out at former premier Nawaz Sharif for allegedly maligning the top army leadership, saying the PML-N supremo himself was launched into politics through the help of the military establishment.
His remarks came during an animated address to a Tiger Force convention in Islamabad, in which he dismissed opposition’s power show of yesterday in Gujranwala as a “circus”.
Commenting on the speech given by Nawaz during the opposition rally, Prime Minister Imran said the PML-N leader was using inappropriate “language” against the army and ISI chiefs at a time when Pakistani soldiers were constantly sacrificing their lives for the nation.
“I understand whose game he is playing. I have full intelligence (re-ports). For me it makes no difference who is the army chief now just because I have not laundered money…He is trying to create rift between government and the army,” the prime minister said in an aggressive tone.
“There are constant attacks on our soldiers; they are sacrificing their lives every day,” he said, noting that 20 security personnel were martyred in two attacks on Thursday.
“Why are they sacrificing their lives? For us; for the country. And this jackal (geedar) who ran with his tail between his legs used such language for the army chief and DG ISI,” he added, referring to Nawaz.
Recalling the origins of Nawaz’s political career, Prime Minister Imran said he had first become a minister through the patronage of Gen (retd) Ghulam Jilani and reached chief ministership by “polishing the boots of Gen Ziaul Haq”. He also accused the PML-N leader of having received “crores of rupees from the Mehran Bank to fight elections against the PPP”, saying the ISI chief at the time had submitted a report in this regard to the Supreme Court. “It is unfortunate that our country’s courts have always helped him. This is the man who put [PPP co-chairperson Asif Ali] Zardari in jail twice. It was Zardari who instituted the Hudaibiya Paper Mills case against him, not Gen [Qamar Javed] Bajwa.”
“What they did to their country is what Mir Jafar and Mir Sadiq did to their people. This attack is not on Gen Bajwa but the Pakistan Army.
Imran said Modi had repeatedly said that he liked Nawaz but that “the Pakistani army chief is a terrorist”. “Why doesn’t he say the same about me? Because I showed his true extremist picture to the world,” he added.
Before his address took on a more serious tone, Prime Minister Imran showed a video clip, purportedly 11 years old, in which he had “predicted” the coming together of the opposition to protect their alleged corruption and even displayed a combination image of Nawaz before and after he left for London for medical treatment, suggesting that the PML-N leader had gotten better by just leaving the country.
Imran said he would not comment on the speeches done by PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz and PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, referring to them as “kids” who were raised on their fathers’ “haraam (prohibited) earnings”.
The premier said Indian newspapers were praising Nawaz for espousing democracy but questioned whether they were unaware that “Ziaul Haq gave him a pacifier and this is the Nawaz Sharif who bought the judiciary”.
“He is only with the judiciary as long as it is with him. When the judiciary closes Hudaibiya Paper Mills case, he praises the judiciary, but cries kyun nikala (why was I ousted?) when he is convicted in the Panama Papers case.
Did Gen Bajwa file the Panama case?”
He challenged the opposition’s claim of rigging in the 2018 elections, saying less petitions were filed to challenge the vote count in the 2018 polls than in 2013.
The prime minister said the government had “documentary evidence” that the PML-N had spent Rs2.5 billion from state funds to win the by-election in Lahore’s NA-120 constituency, adding that the case had been forwarded to the National Accountability Bureau.
“The opposition has only seen one Imran Khan … The Imran Khan they will now see will be different,” he said, adding that “no dacoit will be given a production order of any sort.”
While addressing the judiciary and NAB, he said “the people are tired and awaiting justice and completion of cases. I request the chief justice, whatever logistical support you need from the government, we are ready to provide that but for God’s sake hold day-to-day hearings in order to conclude these cases [involving opposition leaders].”
Prime Minister Imran further said opposition members will “no longer be kept in VIP jails” and will be sent to ordinary prisons.
He added that although NAB and the judiciary are independent, he will “personally prepare” the institutions under him to catch every person who has looted money and taken it abroad.
Once again addressing the courts, the premier said Nawaz was trying to “create choas” within the judiciary and the army and “appealing to the Israeli and Indian lobby in the US”.
“I know the game he is playing; I have all the intelligence. It makes no difference to me who the army chief or DG ISI is because I am not stealing any money.”
He lauded Gen Bajwa for standing with his government during “the difficult period”, saying the army had taken a cut in the defence expenditure for two years and supported the government’s foreign policy throughout.
“Nawaz Sharif, from today it will be my full effort to bring you back to this country and we will keep you in an ordinary jail, not a VIP one.”
Addressing the Tiger Force, he said that it is important for them to understand their position and the importance of their work.
“The volunteer force has a high stature in society, because you have to protect the rights of our citizens. This is a big role in a democracy: Tigers, you have a big role. Pakistanis are a nation who stand for their country,” he said.
“I cannot speak to you everyday, so listen to me: We are a nation of people who have a big heart.
“There was a shortfall in wheat in Pakistan because in the last two years it rained at the wrong time due to climate change,” he said.
“I have called you today because there is inflation in our country and there are many reasons for it. The rupee has fallen against the dollar because when we got the government, we had the largest trade deficit.”
“There was a $40 billion trade deficit. When the rupee falls, whatever we buy from outside, the price of it increases — such as gas, petrol and electricity — all of this increases. I’m not referring to diesel on purpose,” he said.
Referring again to irregular rainfall, which he had blamed for the wheat shortage, PM Imran Khan said, “It rained when the wheat was supposed to be thrashed. That decreased the supply of wheat, and we saw a deficit. We needed 7.2 million tonnes of wheat. When there was a deficit, the price of wheat increased.”
“We found out about the shortage late, because the systems we had were not right.
