PM Shehbaz Sharif slams Imran Khan for ‘poisoning Pakistanis’ minds against state institutions

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif Monday lashed out at PTI Chairman Imran Khan for “poisoning” the minds of Pakistans with his speeches targetting state institutions.

“The nation has been divided as Khan repeatedly called [the then-Opposition and now government] thieves and dacoits,” PM Shehbaz said while speaking during the first regular session of the National Assembly since the new government’s formation.

Terming Khan’s Abbottabad speech “dangerous”, PM Shehbaz said the PTI chairman told his supporters that Nawab Siraj-ud-Daulah’s commanders-in-chiefs were “Mir Jafar and Mir Sadiq”, which is a direct reference to Pakistan’s institutions.

“There can be nothing [wrost] than the words he used for the institutions in his speech,” the prime minister said, slamming Khan for spewing venom against the institutions, which was tantamount to “conspiracy”.

Read more: PM Shehbaz Sharif vows to take legal action against Imran Khan’s anti-state speech

The prime minister warned that if Khan was not stopped from criticising the institutions, Pakistan would soon become like Syria and Lebanon, where an anarchic situation has unfolded.

PM Shehbaz added that the institution which Khan is targetting had “pampered him like a child” and he was “their favourite when he was in the government.”

“I want to tell this house that this institution has not supported any government or prime minister in the last 75 years like it supported Imran Khan Niazi,” PM Shehbaz said as he criticised the PTI chairman for failing to deliver.

‘No mention of treachery’
Quoting ex-ambassador to the United States Asad Majeed Khan — whose meeting with American officials was termed a “threat” by Imran Khan — PM Shehbaz said that the ambassador “wrote in the letter that they used a threatening tone, but there was no mention of treachery.”

Ex-prime minister Khan repeatedly blamed the US for backing the no-confidence motion — that lead to his ouster — and has refused to accept the newly-elected premier, saying “there can’t be any bigger insult to this country” — but the Joe Biden administration denied any role.

The prime minister also mentioned that the National Security Council (NSC) meeting’s statement was very clear in this regard, and it did not mention any conspiracy against Khan’s government.

Shehbaz mentioned that in the past, US, Russian, and Indian governments had threatened Pakistan, but that did not mean that a country was conspiring against Islamabad.

Read more: Legal action to be taken against Imran’s anti-state speech in Abbottabad: PM Shehbaz