Imran says ‘London Plan’ at work

PTI chief sees PML-N behind ‘abduction’ of his party leaders and workers

LAHORE:

After his security in-charge went “missing”, PTI Chairman and former premier Imran Khan on Wednesday said that the “abduction” of his party leaders and workers was part of the “London Plan”, adding that PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif was given assurance that his party would be “crushed”.

“When [PTI leader] Ali Amin was abducted, the DPO told sessions judge in Dera Ismail Khan that he would take a contempt charge but had to take custody of Ali Amin as orders came ‘from above’,” Imran wrote on his official Twitter handle.

The PTI chief claimed that now his security in-charge Iftikhar Ghumman had been abducted, terming it "all part of London plan where former prime minister Nawaz Sharif was given assurances that PTI would be crushed".

Imran said that individuals close to him, including his party's leadership, were being harassed, abducted, tortured, and confronted with sham cases across the country, which he believed were a violation of the Constitution and the rule of law.

Last month, Imran’s focal person on social media, Azhar Mashwani, also remained missing from Lahore for eight days.

In the FIR, Mashwani's brother Mazharul Hasan stated that on March 23 at 3:30pm, Mashwani went missing after he left for Zaman Park from Lahore’s Township area in a cab and his mobile phone was also switched off after a while.Following the outcry, Mashwani returned home safely on March 31. 

Separately, commenting on the Supreme Court’s decision about the election schedule for Punjab Assembly, PTI Senior Vice President Fawad Chaudhry pointed out that the apex court had issued three directions.

He said the top court had directed the federal government to release Rs21 billion to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for Punjab Assembly elections, instructed provincial government to share security plan for the polls and directed the interior secretary to ensure availability of forces for election security.

The court had also given clear instructions how its decision will be implemented, he added.

Now the apex court, Fawad said, had summoned all officials concerned in person to state the factual position about implementation of its order.

The implementation of the Supreme Court’s verdict is mandatory because if elections are not held as per the Constitution, the apex court’s existence as an institution will be in “jeopardy”, he said.

Fawad urged all the officials and institutions, which had taken oath to protect the Constitution, to play their role for supremacy of the Constitution.

PTI Central President Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi said that after former Azad Kashmir premier Sardar Tanveer Ilyas, now it was the turn of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to be disqualified.

He said the ECP in its report to the Supreme Court had stated that despite the apex court’s order, the government did release funds for the Punjab and K-P elections.

“This report is a documentary evidence of the crime committed against the government. No proof is needed after this report,” he said.

“This report has also been submitted against the caretaker government and caretaker Punjab Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi may go to jail for not providing the required election security,” he added.

“Contempt of court criminals do not deserve any pardon. These incompetent rulers want to push the society towards anarchy which the judiciary will never allow.”

Elahi said Finance Minister Ishaq Dar was on a “mission” and wanted the country to default.

“Nawaz Sharif has sent [Finance Minister] Ishaq Dar to Pakistan with his anti-national agenda. There is no hope that the economy would recover in the government of these incompetents,” he said.

“Poor are dying for flour and patients are dying for medicines. Life-saving drugs are rapidly disappearing from the market and pharmaceutical companies are closing their businesses because they are ‘fed up’ with Ishaq Dar’s ‘stupid economic policies’,” he added.

Elahi maintained that even the international bodies had expressed concerns about the shortage of life-saving drugs in the country.