Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Wednesday that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s protests had been an ‘unforgivable act of enmity against the country’.
Shehbaz Sharif said that his government did not adopt an attitude of political revenge against opponents when he took over government in 2022, but PTI had taken things too far. He also referred to PTI protestors as ‘terrorists’ and said that even monuments to the army’s martyrs had not been spared in the violence.
“I warn people engaging in these acts of terror to stop, or we will bring you to the law.”
In an address to the nation on Friday as protests over Imran Khan’s arrest continued across the country, Shehbaz said that the PTI government’s process for arrests was ‘face not case’.
He said that multiple politicians were arrested in the last government’s tenure, with PTI ministers and Imran Khan himself boasting in advance that ‘a wicket was about to fall’.
Shehbaz said that his party had been advocated that National Accountability Bureau’s laws needed to be amended when in opposition, but had been accused of asking for an NRO.
He said that NAB laws had been amended to shorten the remand duration from 90 days to 14 days, and the first beneficiary of these laws was Imran Khan.
He said that protests had also been widespread at the time of Benazir Bhutto’s assassination, but Asif Ali Zardari had said ‘Pakistan Khappay’. He also said there were countless examples of political activists controlling their emotions in the interest of the country.
The decision to make an address was taken after a meeting of the cabinet in Islamabad. The cabinet discussed the security situation resulting from Imran Khan’s arrest in detail and were also presented details of damages made by PTI protestors. Reports also said that the cabinet went over the contents of the speech.
The cabinet also approved summoning the army to Islamabad in the wake of the prevailing situation.
The cabinet condemned the ‘attack’ on national institutions by the PTI and said that the actions taken by the party were akin to those of the country’s enemies.
The government also expressed a resolve to establish order and apprehend those responsible for the damages.
Members of the cabinet also said that the PTI claimed to be a peaceful political party but was resorting to terror-like tactics in the protest. The cabinet also agreed that the protestors should be charged with the anti-terrorism act.
