Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan on Tuesday threatened to identify the characters responsible for the conspiracy to topple his government if his harassment and that of his party was not stopped.
Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan. (File Photo: AP)
Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan on Tuesday threatened to reveal all about the “conspiracy” that allegedly led to his downfall.
Khan’s video message came ahead of crucial by-election in Punjab this month where his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party is trying to secure the seats against the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). In his message, Khan alleged the provincial administration was involved in rigging the upcoming polls.
Khan was removed through a no-trust vote in April but refused to concede his defeat, and rather alleged that an American conspiracy with the help of local actors was the cause of his ouster. His belligerent posturing has clashed with the powerful establishment.
He upped his ante in the video message, threatening to identify the characters responsible for the conspiracy to topple his government if his harassment and that of his party was not stopped.
“If we are pushed against the wall and harassed then I will be forced to speak up and will lay bare everything before the nation about what happened,” he said.
Khan said he was keeping mum in the interests of the nation but he knew everything about those bringing his downfall. “I know how this conspiracy happened and who is involved,” he said.
The former premier also said that he had recorded a video to identify “which characters did what and who committed this great betrayal with the country” and it would be released if something happened to him.
Khan also said that there was similarity between his ouster and the downfall of former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto who was removed by military dictator Ziaul Haq in 1977, as both of them were ousted after the US disapproved Pakistan’s effort to go for an independent foreign policy.
He also trained his guns at the present rulers by accusing them of corruption and seeking a deal to whitewash their sleaze. Khan also lashed at the government for harassing journalists, particularly those who are seen to favour the PTI.
“I’ve never seen such fascism in Pakistan and the kind of fear that is being spread,” he said.