ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Imran Khan on Saturday urged his supporters to remain peaceful but warned the government of serious consequences in case it cracks down on them.
Khan, who became Pakistan’s first prime minister in history to be ousted from office via a no-confidence vote, has demanded early elections and vowed to protest with his supporters throughout the country until an election date is not announced.
The former prime minister has leveled accusations at Washington of backing the no-confidence campaign to remove him, alleging that the US was not happy with his desire to pursue an “independent foreign policy” for Pakistan. Washington and Khan’s political rivals have strongly denied the allegations.
Following his ouster, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) arrested activists belonging to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on allegations of posting derogatory remarks against the military and judiciary on social media.
Addressing a public gathering in Karachi’s Bagh-e-Jinnah park, Khan referred to the incident and warned the government against arresting his party’s supporters.
“Hear me when I say that if you push us against the wall, then you [the government] will suffer, not our country,” he said.
He advised his workers to remain peaceful when they protest.
“We should never take part in politics of confrontation,” he said. “This is our police, our army and our institutions.”
The former prime minister predicted that the government will use fake FIA cases and the foreign funding case against the PTI to keep it out of the political process in the coming days.
The foreign funding case against the PTI has been pending since 2014. One of the party’s own leaders has filed a petition with Pakistan’s election authority, alleging that there are financial irregularities in the PTI’s funding from Pakistan and abroad.
On Thursday, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) ordered the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to decide the foreign funding case in 30 days.
“I am telling the whole country, he [PM Shehbaz Sharif] will try to use the foreign funding case against the PTI to ensure that we are kept out of the match itself,” he said.
Khan said he wanted the PTI, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML) foreign funding to be probed at the same time.
“If there is only one party in the entire country that has a history of political fundraising, it is the PTI,” he said.
In other parts of his speech, Khan said the entire nation was looking to the judiciary to see whether they will hold the corrupt in Pakistan accountable or not. He lashed out at Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, accusing him of being subservient to the US.