June 04, 2022
UPPER DIR: PTI Chairman Imran Khan claimed Saturday that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is "nervous" nowadays and there's a "strange" fear on his face as he castigated the government for rising inflation — which stands at a record high.
"Shehbaz Sharif has stated that everything has happened because of Imran Khan, so they should have let Imran Khan stay in power," the PTI chairman told a public gathering in Upper Dir.
Khan — ousted through a no-confidence vote in April and only the first premier to be voted out — asked the government that if they "cannot handle" the country's issues, then why did they remove him from power through the alleged "conspiracy".
The PTI chairman has refused to accept the new coalition government and has blamed the United States for backing the no-confidence motion that led to his ouster.
Khan is holding back-to-back jalsas in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as he rallies his supporters for marching to the capital once again after he called off his protests in Islamabad last month, claiming that he feared bloodshed.
In today's rally, the PTI chairman said the threat letter — which he claims mentioned the conspiracy against his government — was presented before the National Security Committee (NSC).
"Instead of maintaining the neutral status, they (establishment) should have stopped the interference. The government that has been imposed on us has darkened the future of the country."
Khan reiterated that America, Israel, and India "conspired" against his government and imposed the incumbent leaders on Pakistan. "They have brought Shehbaz into power as he will obey every order of theirs."
The first is taking "dictation" from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and moving up inflation in the country. The price of petrol has been increased by Rs60, Khan said, adding that if a person had a "little bit of humanity left in them" then they would never surge prices to such high levels.
The ex-premier said the international money lender had also pressurised the PTI government to increase the price of petroleum products, but instead of following IMF's suggestions, it decreased it.
"I will keep fighting them till my last breath," the ousted prime minister said, claiming that his government was not ousted because of inflation, but through a US-backed conspiracy.
In a reference to his statement during a lawyers' convention in Peshawar, KP Chief Minister Mahmood said that the "forces are the people of his province".
Addressing a public gathering in Upper Dir, CM Mahmood said that he had made a statement that he would use his province’s force when Khan calls another march towards Islamabad.
He added that his statement made the government nervous. "My forces are my people, who are supporting me," the CM said.
Criticising the coalition government's decision of increasing the petrol price, Mahmood said it has moved up the price from Rs150 to Rs210 per litre in just 50 days of its governance.
"The load-shedding has been increased from 16 to 20 hours. The government has decreased the funding of the tribal areas and cut the petrol quota of the government officials by 35%," said CM Mahmood.
Berating the incumbent government, former defence minister Pervez Khattak said that "no common man can pay the bills". He said that Imran Khan is the only leader who controlled inflation.
"Imran Khan stood against the United States and the inflation. No one dared talk to the US eye to eye other than Khan," added the ex-defence minister.
Khattak said that the first of the party is to get rid of the government of "thieves". "The nation should stand with Khan against the government," he urged.