The government on Saturday vehemently denied any political motivation behind the arrest of PTI chairman and former premier Imran Khan.
Federal Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb, while addressing a news conference following the development, maintained that Imran was arrested because of the court’s verdict in the Toshakhana (gift repository) case and had nothing to do with the upcoming elections or political vendettas.
Marriyum pointed out that the investigation into the PTI chief’s alleged crimes had been under way for over a year, with more than 40 hearings conducted in the Toshakhana case.
She noted that the former premier had only appeared in court three times during this period, despite being given ample opportunities to provide evidence and respond to allegations against him.
The minister emphasised that the court’s verdict was based on concrete evidence and that it had successfully proven Imran’s offence of corrupt practices, including preparing and publishing false statements and submitting incorrect declarations to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) related to Form B in the year 2021.
Addressing the attempts to link the arrest with politics, Marriyum dismissed them as unjustified.
“It is a simple case of a thief punished for his crime,” she added.
The minister maintained that Imran had been given ample opportunities to clear his name and provide a response to the accusations of corruption and misuse of power.
However, she continued that instead of cooperating with the legal process, the PTI chief incited his supporters to attack national institutions whenever faced with accountability.
Marriyum claimed that Imran had not disclosed his correct assets in his income tax returns, declaring only Rs500,000 worth of furniture in his three properties while failing to declare any gold.
She also mentioned his questionable actions, including selling Toshakhana gifts before purchasing them.
The minister further maintained that comparing Imran’s arrest with that of PML-N supremo and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif was unwarranted.
She added that Nawaz had voluntarily presented himself for accountability based on allegations, whereas Imran had been evading it and resorting to dishonesty in his replies.
The minister claimed that the government’s aim was not to arrest Imran with political ambitions but to revive the economy, which had suffered during the “incompetent and inefficient” four-year regime of the PTI chairman.
She reiterated that the court’s verdict was a result of a fair trial, and the government had not arrested Imran when it had the authority to do so earlier if it had any malicious intent.
Separately, JUI-F central leader and Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) spokesperson Hafiz Hamdullah claimed that Imran’s “crimes” were much greater than the punishment he had received.
He added that the PTI chief had been punished after a great deal of delay.
Hamdullah maintained that Imran was pursuing a foreign agenda to keep the country economically and externally devastated.
The JUI-F leader demanded that all the judges, generals, journalists, and National Accountability Bureau (NAB) as well as Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) officials, who were used for the “crime of imposing” Imran on the nation, should be prosecuted.
“Those who turned a rat into a lion are equally responsible for the country’s problems,” he added.
Hamdullah claimed that there was a thick book on the PTI chief’s crimes and all the facts should be brought to the fore instead of “exhibition” decisions.
Taking to Twitter, JUI-Pakistan spokesperson Aslam Ghauri wrote that the PTI chairman’s “certificate” of being Sadiq and Ameen (honest and trustworthy) had turned out to be fake.
“The one [Imran] who gave examples of those who go to the Prime Minister’s House on a bicycle kept stealing gifts from the Toshakhana,” he added.
Ghauri claimed that a mentally unstable person had put the survival of a country with nuclear weapons at stake.
The JUI-P spokesperson further maintained that Imran was responsible for the ongoing unrest in the country, poor state of its economy, selling of Kashmir and moral decline.
In conclusion, he wrote that disqualification, imprisonment and fines were nothing in comparison with the PTI chairman’s national crimes.
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