“His [Imran’s] own children were sitting outside [and] he is asking others to spread anarchy,” says Punjab CM
Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz has fired another shot at jailed Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan, saying what the former prime minister suffered today was “karma” for his past actions. “How can a person who uses youth as political fuel fall asleep,” said the provincial executive while speaking at a ceremony for the Honhaar Scholarship Program in Sargodha. She urged students “not to go against the country under any circumstances”, saying that someone “who asks you to besiege and arson is not your friend”. “His [Imran’s] own children were sitting outside [and] he is asking others to vandalize and spread anarchy,” Maryam said, referring to the events of 9 May 2023 and the “final protest” of 26 November. Khan, who remains behind bars in Adiala jail, and several other PTI members face various charges in violence-related cases following his arrest on May 9. The vandalism was followed by the arrest of PTI’s founder on the above date in 2023, during which party workers protested, took to the streets across the country and damaged public and private property, including military installations. The riots also led to the death of at least eight people and injuries to several others, leading the authorities to arrest thousands of PTI workers and supporters. During today’s event, the Punjab CM regretted that those children who were misled by the PTI founder’s statements were in jail. “All these events were the result of individual lust for power,” she added. Referring to the military court’s verdict for Hassan Niazi, Maryam regretted that the PTI founder’s nephew “mocked the military uniform and brought shame to the country”. “He [Niazi] has been jailed for ten years… his future has been destroyed,” she added. Last month, military courts convicted another 60 “culprits”, including Hassan Niazi, for their involvement in the May 9 riots, bringing the total number of those convicted to 85. The world community, including the United States (US), the United Kingdom (UK), and the European Union (EU), have expressed concern over the sentencing of civilians by military courts, arguing that the convictions are in violation of international law. Calling the ousted prime minister that he was facing “karma”, Maryam said she was arrested during PTI’s tenure in front of her father Nawaz Sharif. “I was in Adiala prison when I got the news of my mother’s death. She opened avenues for the country’s development, saying she couldn’t start a scholarship program if her priority was to “turn off someone’s air conditioning or heating.”
