‘Jail Bharo’ ‘drama’ should begin with Imran Khan’s arrest: Marriyum Aurangzeb
ISLAMABAD, Feb 22 (SABAH): Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb on Wednesday said that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan’s ‘Jail Bharo’ movement is a conspiracy against the country.
Addressing a press conference, the minister said the underprivileged segments of society were suffering because of the former premier’s ‘thefts and robberies’.
Marriyum Aurangzeb maintained that Imran Khan was evading cases before various institutions including high courts, district courts, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), and National Accountability Bureau (NAB) as he did not have any answers.
“After several abandoned plans in the past nine months, he has hatched a new conspiracy in the form of the Jail Bharo movement,” she said, adding the movement should be called Jail Bacho (save from incarceration).
Calling the movement a “drama”, she questioned why 200 innocent people were being arrested when Imran Khan was the one being summoned and PTI leaders were being asked about the cypher cnspiracy and Toshakhana (gift depository) case.
“These are not political arrests, these are criminal arrests,” she stated and reiterated that Imran needed to give answers.
“Nawaz Sharif went to jail with his children. You [Imran] stay in your Zaman Park bunker with your children roaming in Britain,” she said and asked why others should go to jail while the “criminal” was sitting in his residence.
She maintained that the Jail Bharo movement was not for the populace, but was rather a conspiracy against the country.
“If you sympathized with the country why did you ruin foreign relations and hike petrol, LNG, sugar, and flour prices during your tenure,” she questioned.
Marriyum furthered that Imran Khan himself used to call PML-Q leader Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi the “biggest dacoit of the country” but was now supporting him and praising him for becoming party leader.
She stated that Imran Khan alleged a foreign conspiracy after his ouster and now claims that there was no conspiracy.
“He filled his pockets during his term and left. After the constitutional vote of no confidence against him, he forced ministers, the National Assembly speaker and the president to behave in an unconstitutional manner,” she added.
The information minister continued that he asked his supporters to storm the Lahore High Court (LHC) when the court summoned him, thereby leading people astray and attacking the judiciary. “He will not stop,” she said.
According to the minister, the ‘Jail Bharo’ “drama” should begin with Imran’s arrest after he “robbed and harmed the country” but had no answers for anything. “That is why he is starting this movement,” she added. Marriyum maintained that the “performance” needed to be shut down.
She said Imran Khan has himself obtained pre-arrest bail, but asking his workers to participate in so-called “Tehreek”. She said whenever Pakistan comes back on track, Imran Khan and his party hatch conspiracy against the country.
She said Imran Khan is not appearing before the court as he cannot defend corruption charges against him. She said the PTI Chief is avoiding Foreign Funding Case since 2014.
The Minister strongly criticized the previous government for current economic crisis in the country saying that PTI government was responsible for the inflation in the country and their imprudent economic policies resulted into economic meltdown.
Marriyum Aurangzeb said PTI government victimized its political opponents, but none of the corruption charges could have been proved against them.
The minister noted that Imran Khan and Fawad Chaudhry were being summoned in the inquiry of cipher, but they were not cooperating because the whole narrative was ‘fabricated’. She asked Imran Khan to come out of Zaman Park and present himself for arrest for his actual crimes instead of political basis.
She justified the arrests of the PTI leaders, stating that it was not political vendetta but the apprehension of those who had committed crime.