Former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan warned the institutions that not to be under the misconception that they will be respected by committing torture.

“I’m saying to all institutions that if you think that you can earn respect by using torture, don’t have that misconception,” the PTI chief said addressing a public gathering in Mardan on Thursday while condemning PTI senator Azam Khan Swati’s arrest.

Swati was arrested from his farmhouse in Chak Shahzad in the early hours of today over his tweet the previous day against the army chief.

Speaking about the recent rise in the violence in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Swat, the PTI chief said whatever was happening in Swat today was the federal government’s fault, adding that borders were under the control of the federal government.

“Why are the terrorists being allowed to enter when the people of Swat and tribal areas have rendered matchless sacrifices?” he questioned.

Imran Khan said that when his party was in power, terrorism had been controlled.

Taking a jibe at the coalition government, Imran Khan said that ‘thieves’ had pushed the country into quagmire. “The reason for the poverty in the country is that the rulers have plundered country’s wealth,” he added.

Imran Khan asked the people to vote for PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif and PPP co-chairman Asif Zardari if they [people] think they [Nawaz and Zardari] were honest.

He urged the people to start door to door campaign and convey PTI’s message.

The PTI chief said that he did not run away from the country because he was not corrupt.