Daily Times

Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb on Saturday fired a broadside at the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) for unleashing a targeted social media campaign against the free flour scheme launched by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to provide relief to the masses in the holy month of Ramazan.

“Ironically, those who have looted the people’s flour, bread and sugar for four years are trying to make the prime minister’s free flour scheme controversial,” she said while referring to the previous government’s tenure.

The minister, in a news statement, said the PTI leadership which had a “dirty mindset” did not even spare people-centric projects, politicizing them just to achieve their ulterior motives.

Marriyum urged the media to refrain from publishing false and anti-public news which reflected such “filthy mindset”.

Imran Khan might have ordered infected wheat during his government’s tenure, she said sarcastically while dismissing reports circulating on the social media regarding distribution of low quality edible at free flour centers.

She said that it was beyond her understanding that why the PTI leadership got hurt when the projects like metro, orange train, free flour and electricity were initiated for the people of Punjab.

Imran Khan, who had deprived the people of sugar and wheat, was worried that how Shehbaz Sharif had been ensuring free distribution of these edibles among the masses, Marriyum remarked.

She said people did not need to worry as the country no longer had a prime minister like Imran Khan who did not only render the people jobless by robbing them of their employments, but also forced them to have their three times meal on Langar Khana (food centres).

The minister said that now the country was blessed with a prime minister like Shehbaz Sharif who worked tirelessly to chart Pakistan on path of progress and development by ensuring massive job opportunities for youth and reducing poverty.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has resumed all the development projects that were halted by Imran Khan who now bent on politicizing the free flour scheme, she added.

The minister, while reacting to Imran Khan’s recent statement – in which he claimed that ruling mounting pressure on the judiciary for “cherry-picking” verdicts – said the incumbents will save the country from Imran Khan’s “fitna” who is spreading chaos and anarchy by misleading youth.

Reminding the PTI chief about his pledges before coming into power, Marriyum said Imran Khan had promised to end corruption in 90 days and vowed to rectify the governance and economic situation within the first 100 days of his government tenure, adding that all proved to be words out of his mouth, nothing substantial.

“Time for Imran Khan’s deception and fraud is over now,” the minister said while lashing out at the PTI chief’s “facilitators who have been abetting him in his crimes”.

“Whoever assists Imran Khan in spreading chaos and anarchy is a criminal,” Marriyum said, adding that all those “terrorists” who threw petrol bombs on personnel of the Law Enforcement Agencies would be taken to task. She said Imran Khan “violated the constitution on the whims of his facilitators who do not exist anymore”. “Incompetent” Imran Khan dissolved his own governments in the provinces. His politics are crumbling, and he has now become the past, she added.

The minister said Imran Khan would be disqualified for “his involvement in receiving foreign funding, stealing an expensive wristwatch from Toshakhana, and the parental issue of Tyrian White”.