Lahore: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Wednesday slammed the state institutions after his party’s senior leader, Fawad Chaudhry, was arrested in a sedition case.
In a televised press conference, the PTI chief has said that the nation is looking to the Supreme Court and Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial for justice.
Khan warned the nation that it is standing at a crossroads and emphasized that the country cannot continue on its current path.
He stated that the nation must investigate why “we are still devastated” despite having everything and blamed the situation on the “prevailing injustice” in the country.
Addressing the judiciary and legal community, Khan urged them to stand for the rule of law in Pakistan.
He stated that “Pakistan has no future the way it is being run” and that for the first time, people have started losing hope in the country.
Khan criticized Chaudhry’s arrest, stating that in a democracy, no one should be arrested for expressing their thoughts.
He said that the government only wants to silence voices who speak against it.
The PTI chairman claimed that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) nominated Mohsin Naqvi as the caretaker chief minister of Punjab without considering his past. He questioned the ECP’s commitment to holding free and fair elections.
He also accused Naqvi of being a key player in the “regime change conspiracy” against his government and criticized the reshuffle in the Punjab bureaucracy, calling it “analogous to pre-poll rigging.”
Khan announced that he would take legal action against Naqvi’s appointment.
The ex-PM also spoke about the disintegration of the joint investigation team (JIT) investigating the gun attack in Wazirabad, claiming that JIT members were pressured to drop the investigation because it would have established the conspiracy for assassinating him.
He also criticized the governors of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) for not setting a date for the elections, which he says is a violation of the Constitution.
In his address, Khan stated that he will “fight till the last ball” and will not accept being subservient to an “imported regime”.
He also highlighted that an “institution” doesn’t realize that the country’s sovereignty would be compromised if it became economically weak and cited examples of Sri Lanka and Egypt how the government of both countries had to accede to the orders of International Monetary Fund (IMF) regarding armed forces.
He wondered how the “institutions” could back “cabal of crooks” after a regime change conspiracy.
In conclusion, Khan urged the nation to take their destiny in their own hands and struggle for a better Pakistan.
Fawad was arrested from his residence earlier today after he publicly “threatened” the members of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in a media talk outside Imran Khan’s residence in Zaman Park a day ago.
Speaking to the media at a court in Lahore, where the police presented him for obtaining remand, Fawad said that he is “proud” of the case that has been registered against him.
As PTI workers protested at GT Road in Jhelum, the police also rounded up Fawad’s brother Faraz Chaudhry. However, a local magistrate released him on bail after a brief detention.
