LAHORE, May 27: “Your game is over, Imran Khan,” Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz Senior Vice President Maryam Nawaz exclaimed while addressing a large number of vibrant party supporters in Vehari on Friday.
This claim was certainly not made for the first time by Maryam and her party leaders, but this time around, keeping in view the mass exodus (voluntary or otherwise) by the senior PTI leadership in the aftermath of May 9 riots, odds were truly stacked against Imran as he seems to be fighting a losing battle.
Maryam addressing a youth convention in Vehari, first time after the May 9 riots by alleged PTI workers, said: “This change [alluding to the PTI mantra of Tabdeli], will drown in the same open sewer it came out of.”
Accusing Imran of the being the mastermind of the May 9 riots that saw many military and private properties attacked by angry protesters, Maryam said that people would not spare Imran and judges who supported him in his illegal escapades, referring to Chief Justice Umer Ata Bandial.
Maryam chided the PTI workers and leaders for being wimps, saying said that Imran and his party could not stand hardships even for a brief while, whereas her father, Nawaz Sharif, and his entire party stood tall in the face of audacity. “Those who tried to whip out Nawaz Sharif have themselves been whipped out,” the PML-N SVP said.
Maryam, who seemed in a jovial mode, said that she was not expecting a large turnout of youth in Vehari, claiming that she was in fact expecting people of all ages to participate in the convention.
She said what has happened on May 9 was truly unfortunate and distressing, which was why she said she dedicated her Friday’s event to the families of martyrs.
“What sort of despicable person destroys and sets ablaze memorials of martyrs? What happened on May 9 was not spontaneous, it was all meticulously preplanned by Imran Khan at Zaman Park, who is a thief and a foreign-funded stooge.”
Maryam said no enemy could dare commit the kind of acts Imran and his people committed. As soon as Imran was arrested, his people proceeded with the already planned protest – attacking military installations throughout the country.
“Why did the protesters in Lahore not turn towards the Mall of Lahore, which is right across of corps commander’s residence? Why did they go straight for cantonment in Quetta, towards GHQ instead of Lal Haveli in Rawalpindi and towards FC in Peshawar?
“Why did they burn a plane, a symbol of our valor and bravery in Mianwali? These attacks were on Pakistan Army.”
She said that it was unfortunate that the mastermind was roaming free while those who were misguided by him were behind bars.
She said that she had forewarned mothers that Imran was a rabble-rouser and requested them to save their kinds from this conspirator.
She said that women who attacked military installations were equally responsible.
She said that the PML-N too took a stand against the then COAS Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa and the then DG ISI Faiz Hameed but while Nawaz during a rally sought answer from them (for allegedly supporting Imran), saluted Pakistan Army.
The PTI, on the other hand, tried to weaken and subjugate the army by attempting to initiate a wave of violence against them.
She said that on the basis of knowledge, she knew that this was a revolt against Pakistan Army, and Imran was not alone in it, he had support.
She said that these skirmishes had started with the removal of the then DG ISI Gen Asim Munir, who brought corruption of Bushra Bibi to the then PM Imran’s notice – a claim that Imran denied.
She said that later this continued when Imran tried to block the then DG ISI Gen Faiz Hameed’s transfer, as Imran wanted him to stay in power to help him to cling on to power for 10 years.
She said that when the new government was about to appoint Gen Asim as the new COAS, Imran took out a long march, which was aimed at only stopping his appointment.
Maryam said that Imran thought he would turn the tables on his rivals, first by dissolving assemblies, then by taking out long marches and later by attacking military installation but instead, the tables turned on him.
She said that those who were out to seek ‘True Independence’, on the drop of the hat, announced their resignation from the party, alluding to Fawad Chaudary.
She praised leaders of her party for braving prison and hardships. The only person who left the PML-N during that time was Chaudhry Nisar.
“Imran’s game is over and the winner in this game is Pakistan,” Maryam said, adding that did Imran still believe that his ticket had any worth.
She said the people contesting on his party’s ticket would be dealt with in the same way his people dealt with the military installation.
Mocking Imran for claiming before the court that Maryam was exacting revenge on him to avenge her father, the PML-N SVP said, “This is no revenge, this is divine justice.”
She said that with his departure from the political arena, the people would be able to feel peace in true sense of the word.
Aiming her guns at the judiciary, Maryam said that how could CJP Bandial adjudicate cases, where he himself was in the dock.
CJ Bandial in a case against the commission formed by the government on veracity of the audio leaks and its impact on fairness of judiciary, remarked that phone-tapping was illegal.
“Is conspiring against the state and supporting miscreants as well as plunderers of national wealth not against the Constitution?” she asked.
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