New Delhi: Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif made the first public remarks on Wednesday after the arrest of former prime minister Imran Khan and condemned the deadly protests. in his brief video address, which followed The country was rocked by deadly violence and saw attacks on military installations and state properties, Sharif warned of dealing with the protesters with an ‘iron fist’.
Shehbaz Sharif said, “Attack on public property is an act of terrorism and enmity towards the country.” He said those who take the law into their own hands will be given “exemplary punishment”. He also accused Imran Khan and his party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) of causing serious damage to sensitive establishments in the country.
He said, “Such a scene was never seen in 75 years. Many lives were in danger. Even ambulances were torched. The Swat motorway was set on fire. Like the enemy , Armed forces installations were attacked.”
He also said that protecting the government and ideology of Pakistan is more valuable to us than our own lives.
The PM of Pakistan said, ‘We will not allow anyone to conspire against it.’ He resolved to foil the ‘evil designs’ of the enemies.
Shahbaz Sharif alleged that families and relatives of political opponents were not spared when Imran Khan was ruling the country and said that cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan’s ministers used to circulate details of cases against political opponents and former chief Used to predict arrest.
“Not only political opponents, but even family and relatives were not spared,” he said. He said the country’s political history has been “very bitter”.
Shehbaz also said that never in history has vendetta in politics yielded good results.
Talking about Khan’s arrest, Shehbaz said that ‘all evidence’ was available in the Al-Qadir Trust case against the PTI chairman and the cabinet was kept in the dark.
Violent clashes between Imran Khan’s supporters and security forces across Pakistan came to a minimum as the army was deployed to maintain law and order in the country’s capital Islamabad as well as in the provinces of Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan on Wednesday. Seven people died and about 300 were injured. order.
Khan was taken into custody by the paramilitary force Rangers on Tuesday on the orders of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) from the premises of the Islamabad High Court where he had come to attend the hearing of a corruption case. It is alleged that the former Prime Minister of Pakistan and his wife had received the land as bribe through a charitable trust named Al-Qadir Trust. However, Khan and his associates have denied any wrongdoing.
(with inputs from agencies)