Imran vows to burry, PML-N, PPP, JUI-F with nation’s help

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman and former prime minister Imran Khan on Monday lashed out at the Sharif family, PPP Co-chairman, and the JUI-F chief, saying that all of them had become united in defeating him, but they would have a collective funeral.

“The government should immediately hold transparent and free elections in the country for the people to decide their future,” the former premier said while addressing a huge rally in Swabi.

Imran said, “All have come together to defeat Imran Khan in the next election, but together with the Pakistani nation I will hold their collective funeral.”

Imran praised Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa for being the province with only one PTI dissident, saying that it reflected the strong ethics, values, faith and loyalty of the people. “The entire country knows about the lotas (turncoats) of the PTI but the ECP (Election Commission of Pakistan) refuses to see it that way.

"It is finding ways to protect them. These turncoats will not be spared by the people," he warned.

Calling on the crowd to reach Islamabad on his call, Imran said there was only one demand from the people – “a new election date so the nation could decide its leadership”.

The PTI chairman also lashed out at former ally Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), recalling the party's alleged targeting of Karachi police officials in the 1990s.

Imran criticised the government for the way it was running the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), which he said would be "destroyed" just like the Karachi police was at the hands of the then MQM.

He recalled that there was an operation against the MQM in 1996, after which it struck a deal with the then PML-N government. "The MQM then targeted and killed every police officer involved in the operation and till now Karachi police has not been able to stand on its feet," the PTI chairman said.

While Imran had always been a vocal critic of the MQM and its style of politics, he had stopped using the party's controversial past in his speeches after forming the government with its help in 2018.

However, their alliance was broken earlier this year when the MQM-P decided to break ranks and sided with the then opposition, which has formed a new government. The PTI leader has since resumed his criticism of the MQM-P.

The MQM-P came into existence in 2016 following a split within the MQM. The MQM-P is run by the party's local leadership, while another faction of the party is managed from London by the party's founder and exiled leader.