Marriyum launches broadside at judiciary

Senior Punjab Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb, following in the footsteps of Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz's blistering critique of PTI, launched on Wednesday her own salvo against the judiciary and PTI founder Imran Khan.

Aurangzeb charged that the honourable judges are handing out PTI political tickets and branded the party as a long-standing player in anti-state activities.

At a press conference in Lahore, Marriyum, who also wears the hat of PML-N's information minister, called on the courts to end their delay tactics and hand down a verdict against PTI and Imran Khan, citing a string of glaring evidence now in the public domain.

It's worth noting that her party at the Centre is pulling out all the stops to find ways to oust PTI and its former chief, Imran Khan, from the political stage.

The latest salvo against Khan follows his recent admission to reporters that PTI had planned peaceful protests outside the GHQ. The ruling alliance seized on this statement as a "smoking gun," intensifying their push to dismantle Khan's political ambitions through legal channels.

Aurangzeb further criticised the judiciary for allegedly giving the former prime minister special treatment. She claimed that Imran Khan confessed to creating a trust with £190 million in stolen funds, but "they" - alluding to the judges - dismissed this, suggesting instead that the trust was established for youth religious education.

Marriyum further said that the former premier waved a document, asserting it was proof of his involvement in a political conspiracy, but the judges dismissed it as just a piece of paper.

He admitted to taking a watch from the national gift repository, but the response was a shrug, allowing him to keep it, she said.

"Imran also confessed to the events of May 9, arriving in court in a Mercedes, and admitted to inciting his supporters to set Islamabad ablaze, only to be greeted with a casual "good to see you.""

The PML-N leader said that he further confessed to orchestrating attacks on the GHQ, the corps commander's house, other state installations, and defacing statues of martyrs, yet was met with a nonchalant "good luck."

She asserted that parties operating like anarchists and terrorists are being recognised as political parties. She accused the Supreme Court of distributing PTI political tickets instead of delivering justice, despite the irrefutable evidence of their guilt, and lamented the court's lethargy in meting out punishment.

Her boss, CM Maryam Nawaz, who seemingly enjoys carte blanche for reasons unknown, also recently lashed out at judges. She accused them of being benefactors of Imran Khan and suggested that their integrity was, to put it mildly, questionable.

Responding to Imran's reported admission of planning a peaceful protest outside military offices, she questioned how attacking Quetta Cantonment, Corps Commander Lahore House, Mianwali Airbase, Qila Wala Peshawar, and a mosque at Corps Commander House Lahore, along with burning Rangers' vehicles and attacking Radio Pakistan, could be considered peaceful.