Daily Times

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Tuesday slammed the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif, saying the latter wanted to debar him from politics.

Speaking via video link, Imran Khan said, “How can Nawaz Sharif decide the fate of the country at a time when whatever belongs to him is abroad. Nawaz Sharif first fled the country during Pervez Musharraf’s regime. Now when the court sentenced him, he fled the country again on the pretext of a blood platelet count.”

The PTI chief slammed the incumbent government, saying, “People with more money are occupying the seats in the assemblies. There is no rule of law in the country.”

Referring to the arrest of his supporters, he said, “Azam Swati was kidnapped in front of children. No one can imagine the agony that Ali Amin Gandapur had to face.”

Underscoring the importance of rule of law, Imran Khan said, “If there was rule of law in the country, those in power could not have stolen the country’s wealth”.

On Sunday, Imran Khan said in an interview that he was ready to negotiate with the incumbent government if it dissolves the assemblies and comes up with a “neutral” caretaker setup in May. “The Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) were asking me to dissolve the assemblies of Punjab and KP. But they started to escape elections after the assemblies were dissolved,” he said.

“If PDM has any proposal, we will be ready to discuss it. If they are saying that the elections will be held in October, then even then they will make excuses. The government wants to trap us. It is better to suggest holding elections in June or July,” he added.

Meanwhile, in a tweet, Imran Khan claimed that his security in-charge, Iftikhar Rasool Ghumman, has been “deliberately targeted” in bid to weaken his security and to spread fear among the PTI hierarchy.

The PTI chairman also claimed that Ghumman was still in the custody of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).

“He [Iftikhar Ghumman] was an overseas Pakistani who left everything and came to Pakistan to help in our mission for Haqiqi Azadi [real freedom].

“He has been deliberately targeted to weaken my security and also to spread fear amongst the PTI hierarchy. We know who is behind all this,” Imran wrote on Twitter.

The FIA was quick in its response as it rejected Imran’s claim that Ghumman was still in the agency’s custody. In a brief statement issued to the media, it said Iftikhar Rasool Ghumman was nominated in an FIR No 06/2023 of the Anti-Money Laundering Circle of the FIA Lahore.

“He was arrested on April 12, 2023. Moreover, he was an absconder of the FIA Human Trafficking Circle Lahore for the last 22 years in FIR No 291/2001,” the statement read.

According to the FIA, Ghumman was remanded in judicial custody on April 15 and that he is presently in Camp Jail Lahore on the order of a court. “It is clarified that he [Ghumman] is not in the FIA’s custody,” the statement said.