Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan and his party remain on course for a head-on collision with the ruling coalition at the latest stop in Jhelum as part of their anti-government campaign to force early elections.
Addressing the rally in the city in upper Punjab on Tuesday, Imran responded to accusations that he was against the army. The premier, while addressing the National Assembly a day earlier, accused Imran of comparing the country's armed forces with traitors while referring to the oft-quoted 'Mir Jafar, Mir Sadiq' statement.
"Yesterday he said I was against the army! Shame on you Shehbaz Sharif! You are the Mir Jaffer that I speak of," Imran said while addressing his supporters.
He clarified that he did not criticise the armed forces as they were a crucial force that was holding the country together, adding that his party and the country's armed forces were the two things keeping Pakistan together.
The ousted premier launched the latest round of protests from his hometown Mianwali on Friday as he piles up the pressure on the coalition government to hold early elections.
"In my 3.5 years of being in the government, I was most ashamed when I had to beg from foreign leaders," the PTI chairman said in today's rally, adding that he had to beg them for money for the country. "I had to ask because we (Pakistan) do not have money to repay our debt."
The former prime minister said that the hard-working overseas Pakistanis work 14 hours a day and send remittances, "who stole their money and made us beggars?"
"When Cherry-blossom (Shehbaz) said 'beggars are not choosers' who made us beggars? Who stole Pakistan's money?" he questioned as he lambasted the incumbent prime minister.
“Nawaz Sharif is a coward and a thief who flees abroad whenever he gets the chance to,” he said, adding that the prime minister and other PML-N leaders are set to leave for London.
Earlier in the day Defence Minister Khawaja Asif and government spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb - who are part of the delegation - said that they would leave for London on Tuesday (today) night, adding that the visit was of a personal nature.
The PTI chairman questioned if former PM Nawaz Sharif and his brother Shehbaz Sharif have ever spoken about Indian Occupied Kashmir.
Speaking about his Russia visit, Imran Khan said he asked President Putin to provide Pakistan oil at a cheaper rate, adding that the Russian president had "agreed" to provide oil at a 30% cheaper rate to Pakistan, "but will Shehbaz Sharif dare to buy the oil from Russia?"
The PTI chairman has been on a campaign to ‘mobilize the public and strengthen his stance that his government was toppled through a US-backed ‘foreign conspiracy’.
Coming to his planned march towards Islamabad, the PTI chairman said he will give a call for a gathering in the federal capital on the 20th, adding that he aims to bring 2.5 million to Islamabad as the nation had stood up against the "imported government".
