ISLAMABAD : Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz Sharif on Thursday lambasted Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan for talking about dividing the country into “three parts” and asked him who influenced him to talk about that.
“Whose ideology is it? Did Zac Goldsmith influence you to this ideology or Israel?” Maryam Nawaz asked while speaking to the media persons after appearing before the Islamabad High Court in Avenfield Apartments case.
Reacting to Imran’s statement when he maintained that “Pakistan would break into three parts if the establishment does not take the right decision,” Maryam Nawaz said that the entire nation has taken notice of his words and is angered by them.
She said that “Imran Khan has lost his sanity after losing power but the truth is that power never belonged to him, to begin with,” she said. “Whoever said such a thing about the country, his own party will break into 300 pieces.”
She said that the mandate Imran Khan is grieving over was a false and snatched mandate. “I have never seen a person becoming restless for power to this extent,” she added.
The politician appealed to the government to “form a medical board comprising psychologists and mental health experts to examine Imran’s mental state.”
Maryam Nawaz went on to say that the PTI chairman failed within 30 days of assuming the office of prime minister and was further exposed within 30 days after being ousted. He asked under which right did Imran Khan talk about Pakistan’s atomic programme. “Does he have any role in making Pakistan an atomic power?” she asked.
Decrying her father Nawaz Sharif’s removal from the office of prime minister three times, Maryam Nawaz said that the PML-N supremo was ousted on the basis of an expired Iqama. “[Politicians] have borne exiles and life sentences for Pakistan. [Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto] and Benazir Bhutto were martyred but the voice of Pakistan Khappay [we want Pakistan] was heard,” she said.
The PML-N leader further said that Imran betrayed his workers during long march and left them alone while he was enjoying helicopter ride. Taking a dig at PTI Chairman, she said Imran’s entire politics is based on ‘spreading chaos and anarchy’.
Maryam Nawaz said the PML-N also criticised the army but “it was positive criticism”. She added that the PML-N wanted them to play their constitutionally-mandated role.
She added that Imran called off the long march and took refuge in Peshawar because he was “afraid” of Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah.
“He is not an inqilabi (revolutionary) leader but a zamanti (on bail) leader,” she quipped while referring to the protective bail Imran got from the high court in Peshawar earlier on Thursday.
Maryam also accused a private TV channel for siding with Imran and supporting his attacks on the state institution and the country. She alleged that the private media outlet was as much responsible for the current situation as Imran. She requested the media to “stop airing the speeches” of the PTI chief to save the country from his “fitna” (discord).
In response to a question, Maryam said a number of PTI stalwarts were in contact with the PML-N government as they wanted to quit the former ruling party over the issue of resignations from the National Assembly.
The PML-N leader claimed that the PTI leaders were unhappy because they believed Imran’s economic policies and the foreign conspiracy narrative has considerably damaged the political stature of the party.
The statement about the split of Pakistan was the “last nail in the coffin of PTI and Imran”, she added. “No one would stand with Imran Khan nor anyone should,” she said, adding that Imran alone was responsible for the entire mess.
In response to a question about the NAB chief, she said he was used as a “puppet” by Imran and now he wanted a safe exit. She added a new NAB chief would be someone who would make decisions “on cases, not faces”. She also added that NAB should investigate allegations against Imran’s close friend Farah Gogi.