PML-N handing out money to muster support for anti-govt movement: Imran slams Opposition

'Naya' Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday hit out at the opposition parties, alleging that the Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) was handing out money to supporters to join the anti-government movement.

"I want to tell their supporters to take money and even eat their qeemay ke naan: but stay inside [and do not come out to protest]," Geo News quoted Imran Khan. Speaking at the Insaf Lawyers' Forum on Friday, the Prime Minister also slammed the opposition parties for sticking together "when they are being called to account for their crimes."

'Nawaz Sharif is still saying...'

Referring to Nawaz Sharif's frequent complaint against the Pakistani state, he said, "Two years after the [Panamagate] JIT was formed and the courts gave their verdict, he [Nawaz Sharif] is still saying 'Mujhay Kyun Nikala' (Why was I ousted?)." Khan also lashed out at Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz's spokesperson Mohammad Zubair for comparing the PML-N supremo to deceased Iranian leader Ayatollah Khomeini. "Ayatollah Khomeini did not have nihari brought to him on helicopters from Lahore. He lived [on a simple diet] of yoghurt and roti," Khan added.

According to the Pakistani news channel, Imran Khan reiterated his unflinching stance that his government will never give any legal relief to the opposition. Khan said the country had been destroyed because retired Gen Pervez Musharraf had extended favours to the PML-N and the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) a decade ago. He also alleged that the real reason Sharif always had problems with the military leadership was that they know about his crimes. "He wants to control the ISI because they always find out about his corruption," he said. "They're the number one agency in the world."

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The opposition parties of Pakistan have alleged that Khan's government had belittled the expectations of the general people and had left them in tatters amid the economic havoc caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Imran Khan-led government have launched multiple crackdowns against several opposition leaders, with the latest case under the sedition law filed against former PM Nawaz Sharif, his daughter Maryam, and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir "premier" Raja Mohammad Farooq Ahmed Khan on October 1.

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An FIR was registered on the basis of a complaint lodged by a local resident in Shahdra police station against the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) leader on the charges of criminal conspiracy for the "provocative speeches" he made in London to "defame Pakistan's institutions". Sharif's daughter, Khan and three retired generals among 40 PML(N) leaders have also been named in the FIR. 

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