Daily Times

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday pledged to bring Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Nawaz Sharif back to the country and put him in jail, saying even if he had to travel to the United Kingdom and talk to his British counterpart Boris Johnson for the purpose, he would do that.

“We are in contact with the British authorities and are trying to get Nawaz Sharif deported from the UK,” he said in an interview with a private television. He said instead of seeking extradition, his government is talking to the British authorities at official level and fully trying to get Nawaz Sharif deported. “Unfortunately, the Establishment, whose product he (Nawaz) is, and the judiciary have always favoured Nawaz Sharif. But now the time has come to bring him (Nawaz) back to face imprisonment,” he stressed. “Insha’Allah, we will bring him back to the country and keep him in jail.”

To a question, he recalled how his government had allowed Nawaz Sharif to travel to London for treatment after six hours of discussion in the federal cabinet. “I say it with full honesty that I was feeling pity for Nawaz Sharif at that moment and thought he (Nawaz) should travel abroad for treatment,” he remarked. The prime minister, however, regretted that he should have realized that Nawaz Sharif is used to telling lies as he had done during his exile in Saudi Arabia after the 10-year agreement with Gen (r) Pervez Musharraf and continued to deny any deal till the Saudi prince made the agreement public after eight years. He said the government wanted a Rs 7 billion surety bond from Nawaz Sharif – which was to be presented before the Lahore High Court, before allowing him to leave the country, but the court allowed him to go abroad on the guarantee of Shehbaz Sharif.

The prime minister said that the former prime minister wanted to turn the Pakistan Army into Punjab Police, repeating accusations that the PML-N supremo wanted to control the armed forces. He referred to opposition leaders as ‘thieves’, vowing to never let them form their government in Pakistan even if he does not remain in power. “Even if I am not in power, will not let these thieves return [to government],” he said. “If they return, I will mobilise the masses and make them come out on roads [to protest],” he added.

The prime minister said it is no use talking to the opposition, reiterating his accusation that they are just demanding a National Reconciliation Order (NRO). “The state will be destroyed if the government gives them an NRO,” he said.

Referring to the recent exaggerated Indian media reports of a ‘civil war’ breaking out in Karachi, PM Imran said the Modi-led government is the most anti-Muslim and anti-Pakistan one to emerge in India over the past seven decades. “Their media is hailing Nawaz Sharif as a hero of democracy,” he complained. “Let us decide once and for all, is India our well-wisher?” He reiterated his stance that India was involved in sectarian killings in Pakistan. He said he had warned the nation before Dr Maulana Adil Khan’s assassination that India was stoking the flames of sectarian conflict in Pakistan.