Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan on Tuesday criticised the lodging of terrorism cases against him and said it had been done because he was undertaking a ‘political struggle’ in the country. He said a terrorism case was also registered against the man who hurled a shoe at former prime minister Nawaz Sharif recently.
Talking to reporters at the anti-terrorism court hearing the 2014 parliament and PTV attack cases against the PTI chairman, Imran Khan said, “risks have to be taken to make big decisions,” adding that a man should be judged by his decisions.
Regarding the issue of live coverage of PML-N quaid Nawaz Sharif’s corruption trial, Imran said he supported the idea.
Further, he lashed out at the PML-N, saying that the party can only keep its members when it’s in power.
“The Sharif family has nothing in its money trail except for the Qatari letter,” he claimed.
In response to a question, Imran said both Sharif brothers are attempting to dupe the nation by playing ‘good cop bad cop’, in an apparent reference to Nawaz’s aggressive posture vis-à-vis the judiciary and the establishment and Shehbaz’s attempts at mending fences.
Khan said the majority of Punjab’s development funds had been spent on Lahore, saying the feeling of deprivation in southern parts of the province was genuine.
Earlier in the court, Khan’s counsel Babar Awan began his comments with a phrase from a Bollywood movie, saying, “my client’s name is Khan and he is not a terrorist.” It temporarily evoked laughter in the courtroom before the hearing set off.
Later in the hearing, the court ruled that it will announce its decision on Imran’s acquittal plea on April 25.
Several criminal cases were filed against the leadership of the PTI and the Pakistan Awami Tehreek for fomenting violence against state institutions during the 2014 dharna in Islamabad.
Musharraf caused ‘great damage’ to Kashmir issue, says Imran. In an interview with Kashmir Narrator on Tuesday, PTI chairman Imran Khan said former president General (retd) Pervez Musharraf had caused ‘great damage’ to the Kashmir cause by declaring the United Nations resolutions on Kashmir out-dated.
Imran said: “The UN resolutions continue to be of central relevance in that they reaffirm the legitimacy of the Kashmiris’ right to self-determination. The UN resolutions, therefore, continue to have a central legitimacy and are critical to resolving the conflict.”
The PTI chief also criticised Nawaz Sharif and alleged that he undermined the struggle of Kashmiri people. “Nawaz became the first Pakistani PM to visit India officially for Modi’s swearing-in ceremony and he did not meet the Hurriyat Conference leadership in New Delhi.”
“He (Nawaz) did this because he was busy meeting his Indian business counterparts to talk business, not reaffirm Pakistan’s position on Kashmir. He put his business interests before the country’s interests and the Kashmiris struggle for self-determination,” Khan said, adding that if his party came to power in the upcoming general elections, it would put forth ‘ground-breaking’ proposals to resolve the Kashmir dispute.
Published in Daily Times, April 11th 2018.
