Sindh Senior Minister and Provincial Minister for Information, Transport and Mass Transit Sharjeel Inam Memon said a conspiracy was launched against the very people who had helped PTI come to power. He said the PTI founder was brought into office in 2018 by depriving candidates of other parties of their mandates, and today he criticizes the same people who supported him at the start.
Speaking at a press conference in Islamabad, he said PTI’s three and a half years in government were a dark period. No major project was launched, nor was any significant work done for the public. Apart from langar khanas, nothing meaningful was provided. The hospitals and universities he praises were built through donations. He said PTI introduced a culture of indecency in politics, and the front it has opened today is without principle and only for the release of one person. PTI, he added, has never taken to the streets for ordinary people. Sharjeel Inam Memon said public memory is short. Some people now consider the PTI founder a hero for criticizing the establishment, but the youth should remember his three and a half years in power.
During that period, he openly spoke about ideal relations with General Bajwa and the establishment, and even said he asked the institutions to help complete the numbers required to pass bills. He said that when the no-confidence motion approached, the PTI founder was ready to grant General Bajwa a lifetime extension. All these clips are still available. If this conflict were based on principle, it would have started before he lost power, not afterward. When the institutions became neutral, the PTI founder said animals are neutral. He said Imran Khan’s politics were driven by ego and pride. Anyone who spoke against him on talk shows would find NAB at their doorstep the next day. Political opponents were selectively arrested, institutions were misused, media trials were conducted and fake heroin cases were filed against politicians. Faryal Talpur was taken to jail from a hospital on the night of Eid. Khursheed Shah, Agha Siraj Durrani and other PPP leaders also suffered due to the same approach. Sharjeel Inam Memon said that if Imran Khan’s sister is mistreated today, they feel sorrow, but the PTI founder’s tenure was a period of political dictatorship.
He repeatedly went to the United States to speak against political opponents, while Bilawal Bhutto had said he would speak about his prime minister only in his own country, not abroad. He said the PTI founder spread his narrative internationally. The Jerusalem Post wrote for his release, and Israel issued statements about the situation in Pakistan, while he himself ignored basic human values.
He pushed the youth toward abusive behavior through social media. Imran Khan, he said, was a product of the establishment, and everyone knows who organized the rallies and sit-ins. Sharjeel Inam Memon said all of Imran Khan’s interviews are available. He came to power with the help of the establishment, used NAB for political revenge, influenced the judiciary and the nation still remembers the role of former Chief Justice Saqib Nisar. It was Saqib Nisar who called Imran Khan honest and trustworthy. Imran Khan announced the amnesty scheme, and he and his family benefited from it while calling others thieves.
He said people think Imran Khan has been in jail for decades, but he has been imprisoned for only two and a half years, and even during that period he continued to hatch conspiracies against institutions. His entire time was an era of democratic dictatorship. Sharjeel Inam Memon said the PPP accomplished major milestones, from making Pakistan a nuclear power to giving the country a constitution.
He said abusing others does not make anyone a revolutionary. Asif Zardari spent twelve years in jail but never spoke a single word against the country. After Benazir Bhutto’s assassination, when the whole country was in turmoil, President Asif Ali Zardari raised the slogan of “Pakistan Khappe” and kept the nation united. Imran Khan, he said, did not accomplish anything significant for democracy during his tenure. Instead, his politics remained focused on revenge. Sharjeel Inam Memon said Imran Khan received funding from Israel and India for elections, a claim he said was made by the late Arshad Sharif, not by him. He said that discussion about banning PTI is speculative. The PPP does not support banning any political party, but parties should also avoid choosing a path that leads to a dead end.
He said every woman, whether Aleema Khan or anyone else, including Imran Khan’s sister, deserves respect. He said they cannot support the mistreatment of anyone, but people should also remember that Faryal Talpur, Asif Zardari’s sister, was taken from a hospital in the middle of the night and sent to jail.