Rashid a scapegoat to save skins of ‘royal’ Sharifs', says Imran

PTI chief demands real culprit behind national security breach be exposed

ISLAMABAD/ LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan on Saturday said the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government, by sacking Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid, was using him as a scapegoat to ‘save the skins’ of the Sharif family.

“The government is trying to protect the Sharifs by sacrificing a minister. This is unacceptable. We need to name the ‘royal family’ member who is the actual culprit behind the national security breach,” the PTI supremo told reporters outside his Bani Gala residence as he spent a second consecutive day under self-imposed house arrest.



Calling Nawaz Sharif’s democracy ‘worse than Musharraf’s dictatorship’, Imran said the prime minister had himself become a security risk for Pakistan. He claimed Indian and Israeli lobbies were supporting Nawaz in a bid to divert nation’s attention from Panamagate.

“He [Nawaz] has caused irreparable loss to the federation of Pakistan by closing road links [from Islamabad] to Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa,” Imran said. He added that Pakistanis did not need a parliament or democracy that serves only the powerful.



The PTI chief again warned the government that one million people would come to Islamabad for the party’s November 2 protest. “I am not worried about my political future. Unlike the Sharifs, I have no intention to make a fortune through politics,” he said.

Imran also lashed out at the judiciary, saying it had a “history of supporting the powerful and influential.” Pointing out that the PML-N’s ‘corrupt’ regime had put innocent political workers behind bars and restricted the movement of public by placing containers, the PTI chief asked the Islamabad High Court whether it would initiate contempt proceedings against the government.

Rashid’s sacking not enough: Haq

Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Amir Sirajul Haq on Saturday said asking Pervaiz Rashid to resign in connection to a planted story – which the army had termed a national security breach – was no punishment for so serious an offence.

“Serious action should be taken against him [Rashid] in accordance to the law,” he said. Siraj added that the information minister’s resignation indicated that some highly irresponsible people were part of the government. “Even sensitive national issues are at stake because of such people. This indicates that some people will go to any extent to fulfill enemy designs.”



The JI amir said those named in the Panama leaks were eating Pakistan’s resources like termites. “It is high time to drive them out of power,” he urged the masses.

Siraj also expressed hope that the government would take the nation into confidence on investigation into the planted story and ensure action in line with the law is taken.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) chief Dr Tahirul Qadri, while reacting to Rashid’s sacking, said the government will not take any action against the ousted information minister.

“The so-called action against the information minister is just eye-wash and deception. The drafter of the controversial news will reinstate Rashid within six months after giving him a clean chit,” he said.

Qadri added that Mushahidullah Khan was also sacked for his very controversial statement but today he is Prime Minister Nawaz’s spokesperson. Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Senator Aitzaz Ahsan, on the other hand, said Nawaz himself was part of the planted story conspiracy.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 30^th, 2016.