Former premier and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Monday said that Pakistan has “changed forever [and] the mental shackles of slavery have been broken finally”.
Imran made these remarks on his official Twitter handle alluding to PTI’s recently held ‘Azadi March’, wherein hundreds of party supporters marched to Islamabad amid the ‘police brutality’ they faced.
“What I witnessed during my [seven] hours on the container [between] 1am & 8am on [May] 26th morning confirmed what I had been sensing, since this imported govt was imposed on us through a foreign conspiracy,” he said.
The tweet comes a day after the PTI leader asked his supporters to prepare for the next long march towards Islamabad at a convention held in Charsadda. Imran told the participants of the convention that 220 million people were being enslaved.
“Remember, the nation is not afraid of tear gas. This is a real liberation movement … jihad,” he had added.
Following his ouster from power, Imran Khan has alleged that a “foreign conspiracy” against his government was behind the no-confidence motion tabled in the National Assembly last month and has repeatedly stated that he is willing to go to any lengths for “real freedom” of the country but will not accept the incumbent government led by “slaves of US and thieves”.
The second call for a long march was made by Imran after he decided to end his march early on May 27 and gave the incumbent government an ultimatum; to announce elections within six days or have the “entire nation” return to the capital.
Audio clip saga
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has urged people to reject the policies of PTI and criticised Imran for damaging the country’s economic and other interests, calling him an arrogant, who hoodwinked the masses by telling lies and taking U-turns.
PM made these remarks after an audio clip of an alleged conversation between former president Asif Ali Zardari and property tycoon Malik Riaz which took place before the no-confidence motion against former prime minister Imran Khan, has been leaked on social media in which Riaz can be heard saying that Imran wanted to reconcile with the PPP co-chairman.
Imran Khan had repeatedly denied rumours surrounding the topic when he was in government, saying he did not need NRO (amnesty) from anyone, rather, all other politicians had been asking for one which wasn’t given to them.
In a comment on the audio clip, PM Shehbaz stated that the alleged conversation between Zardari and Malik Riaz exposed Imran Khan’s “hypocrisy and double standards”.
“Contrary to his claims, he [Imran] sought NRO to save himself & his govt. The fake story of foreign conspiracy was manufactured after all his efforts failed,” Shehbaz said, adding that Imran’s “lies stand exposed”.