PTI Chairman Imran Khan Friday warned the government against filing a treason case against him after reports emerged that key officials were mulling over the idea.
Top federal government officials deliberated over going ahead with filing treason charges against Khan and the chief ministers of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan, respectively, over PTI’s May 25 “Azadi March” during a special committee meeting of the cabinet.
“Can Asif Zardari and Nawaz Sharif file treason cases against me? All of their properties are in foreign countries,” the PTI chairman said, claiming that Zardari had sought the United States’ help against the Pakistan Army.
“And can Nawaz Sharif — who has bought four properties worth billions in London — decide whether I am a traitor?” Khan said, adding: “The only reason the government is against me is that they know once I am out of the way, it makes it easier for them to siphon the country’s money to foreign countries.”
The PTI chairman claimed the coalition government — which he maintains was formed with the help of a US-backed conspiracy — knows that the people were still backing him, therefore, they have now decided to file a sedition case.
He added that he has “neither broken the law”, “nor have any of his actions been against the law”. He stressed that his 126-day sit-in in Islamabad was “peaceful”.
“I never want to break the law and do not want to spread anarchy […] we never wanted to get into clashes with the army, rangers, or police,” the ousted premier said.
‘Atom bomb’
Khan also took the government to task for the back-to-back increase in the price of electricity and petroleum products, saying it has “dropped an atom bomb of inflation on the nation”.
The ousted prime minister said during his 3.5 years in government, the petrol prices were hiked by Rs56, but during the present government’s “60 days in power”, it has gone by Rs60.
Khan said the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had pressurised the PTI government as well to increase the price of power and petroleum products, but there was a difference between him and the present government — “all their” leaders reside out of the country.The food items like cooking oil, sugar and chicken have witnessed a rise in price to 88pc, 83pc and 60pc respectively, reported Dawn.
Food prices surged 17.3%, while transport costs surged 31.8%, the data showed.
