ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan today (Friday) has asserted that the Opposition real issue with the military was that, unlike other institutions, they were unable to control Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) after the agency found out about their ‘corruption’.
“If I too started laundering money out of the country, the ISI will find out before anyone else, because it is the world’s top agency,” he said while addressing an event organized by the Insaf Lawyers Forum (ILF) in Islamabad today (Friday).
The Prime Minister further said, “The opposition controlled all the institutions whose job is to keep checks and balances, except ISI. They tried to control it and that’s where the conflict starts.”
The premier claimed that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif fought with many army chiefs in order to turn the army into Punjab police.
Referring to Nawaz’s claim that ex-ISI chief Zaheerul Islam had asked him to resign, PM Imran said, “Why did Islam say that, and why Nawaz silently hear that? Because Zaheerul Islam knew how much money you had stolen.”
While lauding the sacrifices of Pakistan army, PM Imran said, “We are safe today because of the sacrifices rendered by our armed forces,” adding that if the military was weakened, the country would see similar turbulence as in other Muslim countries such as Libya, Syria and Yemen.
“The reason Pakistan army is supporting our every agenda because of my clean record,” he claimed, adding that he did not have any problems with the military.
The prime minister also criticized Nawaz and Maryam Nawaz’s spokesperson Mohammad Zubair for comparing the PML-N supremo to deceased Iranian leader Ayatollah Khomeini.
PM Imran said that the two were not similar by any account as the people of Iran actually loved Ayatollah Khomeini. “Ayatollah did not have niharis brought to him on helicopters from Lahore, he lived on a simple diet,” he added.
The premier also said that Ayatollah Khomeini was sent abroad on gunpoint while Nawaz faked numerous illnesses to do the same.
PM Khan also mocked Talal Chaudhry indirectly, saying that “a senior leader of their party went for ‘organisational restructuring’ at a lady’s house at 3:00 am and was then wondering why her brothers beat him up.”
Referring to the development of Pakistan, the Prime Minister said that the country can move forward by following the ideology of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah. “The state of Medina was based on the rule of law,” he added.
