Daily Times

Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz on Wednesday launched a fresh tirade against incarcerated Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan, saying that the difficulties being faced by the former prime minister were the result of “his own doings”.

“How can a person who uses youth as political fuel fall asleep,” the provincial chief executive said while addressing the Honhaar Scholarship Programme ceremony in Sargodha.

Urging the students not to go against the country “under any circumstances”, she said that someone “who asks you to siege and arson is not your friend”.

“His [Imran] own children were sitting outside [and] he is asking others to vandalise and spread anarchy,” Maryam said, referring to the events of May 9, 2023 and the “final call protest” on November 26.

Khan, who remains behind the bars in Adiala jail, and several others are facing various allegations in the cases related to the violence following his arrest on May 9.

The vandalism was followed by the PTI founder’s arrest on the aforementioned date in 2023 during which party workers protested, taking to the streets across the country and damaging public and private property, including military installations.

The riots also led to the deaths of at least eight people and injured several others, prompting the authorities to arrest thousands of PTI workers and followers.

During the event, the Punjab CM regretted that those children, who were misled by the PTI founder’s statements, were in jail. “All these events were result of an individual’s greed for power,” she added.

Referring to the military court sentence for Hassan Niazi, Maryam regretted that the nephew of the PTI founder “mocked the military’s uniform and brought shame to the country”. “He [Niazi] was jailed for ten years… his future has been destroyed,” she added.

Last month, the military courts sentenced 60 more “culprits”, including Hassan Niazi, for their involvement in the May 9 riots, taking the total number of convicts to 85.

The world community, including the United States (US), the United Kingdom (UK) and the European Union (EU) had expressed concerns over the sentencing of civilians by the military courts, maintaining that the convictions were against the international law.

Calling out the ousted premier for facing “karma”, Maryam said that she was arrested during the PTI’s tenure in front of her father, Nawaz Sharif. “I was in Adiala Jail, when I received news about my mother’s death.”

Noting that paths for country’s development were opening up, she said that she would not be able to launch scholarship programme if her priority was to “turn off someone’s air conditioner or heater”.