Tag: Imran Khan

  • ‘Prove them traitors’: Bushra Bibi’s audio leak out

    ‘Prove them traitors’: Bushra Bibi’s audio leak out

    An alleged audio of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi has been leaked in which she is instructing Khan’s focal person for Digital Media Dr Arslan Khalid to make a statement against Khan’s opponents and run a campaign to ‘prove them traitors’.

    In the alleged leaked audio, Bushra Bibi can be heard saying, “Khan Sahib told you to run a hashtag of treason. I have been getting calls from people that your social media was very active but after a week, it is not. You should have been very active nowadays.”

    She also allegedly said that Aleem Khan and others will talk filth about Khan, her friend Farah and her as well. “They will make so much fuss and they will also give testimonies of the people but you don’t have to make any issue of it just link them all with treason,” says Bushra Bibi.

    In the audio clip, Bushra can be reportedly heard instructing Khalid to build a narrative that all the PTI dissidents had joined foreign conspirators to save themselves.

    The former first lady allegedly asks Khalid to direct his team to take up the issue of the government not buying oil from Russia and link it with how Imran Khan was being betrayed.

    “You cannot let this matter die down,” Bushra Bibi allegedly says to him, asking him to make a trend so people know that the country and Khan are being betrayed.

    “I am only telling you this, you don’t have to discuss this issue with anyone. They are after him [Imran Khan] because of this. But you have to link it with treason,” she concludes.

    Responding to Bushra Bibi’s audio, PTI’s Fayaz ul Hassan Chohan condemned saying that is it unethical. He further said that there is nothing wrong in it if Bushra Bibi has linked conspiracy to treason.

    This is not the first time an audio clip has surfaced on social media involving Bushra Bibi.

    Earlier this month, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leaders played an audio tape between Bahria Town chief Malik Riaz and his daughter, revealing how allegedly Farah Gogi “demanded a gift” for former first lady Bushra Bibi.

  • ‘Will get fresh tear gas if needed,’ Rana Sanaullah warns PTI

    ‘Will get fresh tear gas if needed,’ Rana Sanaullah warns PTI

    Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said if the need arises, fresh, effective and updated tear gas will be used against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) supporters who are ready to hold a rally at Islamabad’s Parade Ground today.

    Meanwhile, it has been reported that a pistol was recovered from a man who was present at the rally venue.

    The police have arrested the man and he is now being investigated.

    In a press conference today (Saturday), Sanaullah said that the expired tear gas, which he claimed was bought by his “predecessors”, had finished. “Now they [police] will get everything effective, fresh and updated if the need arises.” However, he advised participants at PTI rally not to cause chaos. “It would be better if they don’t create a situation.”

    He said that in the future, any such “seditious” rallies won’t be tolerated in the capital.

    Regarding a question about PTI Chairman Imran Khan, the federal minister said he should “correct” his matters and refrain from “creating rebellion and instability” in Pakistan.

    “All the political parties in the country at the moment are on one side, trying to solve the ongoing crises, while Imran Khan is busy abusing everyone and playing the politics of hatred,” the interior minister added.

    Prior to this, PTI alleged that the Islamabad police had used expired tear gas against them on May 25. Later, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Islamabad Dr Akbar Nasir Khan had stated that expired tear gas shells were not used.

    On Friday, the Staff Duties Directorate at the General Headquarters (GHQ) Rawalpindi permitted PTI to organise its jalsa at Parade Ground in the federal capital.

    The permission is only valid for July 2. The NOC was given on the condition that the public gathering shall not disturb or disrupt the fundamental rights of the citizens of Islamabad and adjoining areas nor shall it block Islamabad Expressway or any other road. The gathering shall end at midnight.

  • GHQ allows PTI to use Parade Ground for jalsa

    GHQ allows PTI to use Parade Ground for jalsa

    The Staff Duties Directorate at the General Headquarters (GHQ) Rawalpindi on Friday permitted the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) to organise its jalsa at Parade Ground in the federal capital.

    PTI Central Secretariat President Ali Nawaz Awan was informed that permission to use Parade Ground had been granted by the GHQ.

    A letter issued to Awan by the deputy commissioner said: “With reference to clause xlii mentioned in the NOC, you are hereby intimated that permission to use the venue i.e Parade Ground, Islamabad has been granted by the concerned quarters.”

    The NOC was given on the condition that the public gathering shall not disturb or disrupt the fundamental rights of the citizens of Islamabad and adjoining areas nor shall it block Islamabad Expressway or any other road. The gathering shall end at midnight.

    The permission shall only be valid for July 2. It was reiterated that Section 144 had been imposed on the gathering of persons within a one km radius of the Red Zone and the organisers will ensure that no participant entered there.

  • ‘What has my Mum got to do with Pakistani politics?’ Jemima lashes out at PML-N for staging protest again

    ‘What has my Mum got to do with Pakistani politics?’ Jemima lashes out at PML-N for staging protest again

    The ex-wife of former Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan, Jemima Goldsmith, lashed out at Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) for organising a protest outside her 88-year-old mother’s house this weekend.

    In a tweet on Thursday, she said, “What the hell is wrong with these people (PML-N)? Another mass demonstration was announced outside my 88-year-old mother’s house this weekend.”

    She pointed out that this is the third time that such a protest is being organised outside her mother’s home. She called out the ruling party members for dragging her mother into Pakistani politics: “What has my Mum got to do with Pakistani politics? It’s disruptive for her and a total waste of police time.”

    Jemima tweeted after the PML-N announced a protest in response to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) call to gather in Hyde Park on July 2 and then march to Nawaz Sharif’s London residence.

    Since the removal of Imran Khan through a vote of no-confidence, several times PTI protested in London outside PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif’s residence. Similarly, PML-N workers have protested in front of Goldsmith’s residence and her mother’s in response.

    Back in April, a video shared by Jemima on Twitter showed a man threatening to break into a bedroom in her house. She had stated that her children were being targeted by protesters and that she was facing anti-semitic abuse on social media.

    After the incident, the act was widely condemned on social media as people were of the view that Jemima is not related to Pakistani politics anymore and she shouldn’t be dragged into this matter.

    It is pertinent to mention that after her divorce from Khan, Jemima moved to London and since then she has been living there with her sons.

  • Will Punjab select its new CM today?

    Will Punjab select its new CM today?

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) moved the Supreme Court (SC) to challenge Lahore High Court’s verdict to recount the votes cast in the Punjab Chief Minister (CM) elections excluding the votes that were cast by 25 dissident PTI lawmakers.

    The SC accepted PTI’s plea for an immediate hearing earlier in the day and formed a three-member bench. The hearing is currently underway by the bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial.

    During the hearing, PTI’s lawyer Babar Awan requested to wait for seven days for the election process. To this, the court questioned, “Do you want Punjab to remain without a Chief Minister for seven days?”

    Moreover, the apex court has directed the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to send notice to five reserved seats. As in the petition, PTI pointed out that lawmakers on five reserved seats in the Punjab Assembly had still not been notified in accordance with the LHC’s earlier directives.

    PTI leader and former federal minister Fawad Chaudhry announced the development on his Twitter handle. He said, “An appeal has been filed in the SC against the decision of the LHC. It is hoped that the SC will hold a hearing today in view of this crisis and the session of the Punjab Assembly will be adjourned.”

    The petitioners urged the court to remove Hamza as CM and requested to issue directives for holding a “free and fair” election for the post of the province’s chief executive. Moreover, they requested the court to suspend the election process till the pendency of their petition.

    In the petition, the party also said that some of their Members of Provincial Assembly (MPAs) are currently not in Pakistan as they have gone to Saudi Arabia to perform Hajj. The party also argued that many PTI and Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) members are busy with political campaign in their constituencies for the upcoming by-elections in Punjab.

    The magic number required to show the majority is 186. According to the verdict of the LHC, after recounting the votes today (Friday), the tally of the incumbent CM Hamza Shehbaz will come down to 172 votes after the exclusion of 25 votes of PTI dissident MPAs. The session will take place today at 4pm as per the LHC order.

    ‘Going to Supreme Court over LHC decision on Punjab CM polls’: Imran Khan

    On Thursday, LHC accepted the appeals of PTI filed against the election of CM Hamza and ordered a recount of votes with the exclusion of the 25 defecting party members who voted for him.

    A five-member larger bench of the LHC headed by Justice Sadaqat Ali Khan announced the verdict.

    After the verdict, Former Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan said that the party would be going to the apex court tomorrow (Friday) and challenge the verdict.

    Verdict:

    As per the verdict, the votes will be recounted and the candidate securing a majority of votes will be declared the chief minister of Punjab.

    Article 130(4) of the Constitution of Pakistan governs the election of chief ministers, under which there is an obligation of a majority of 186 votes.

    Hamza will no longer be the chief minister if he doesn’t retain the required majority after the exclusion of 25 votes, while the second round of polls will be held as per Article 130(4) in case no one gets the majority after a recount.

    Reactions:

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Attaullah Tarar said that the PML-N is happy and content because it has the required numbers. He said that the PML-N has 177 votes, which means a majority of nine votes even if the dissidents’ votes are not counted.

    “The court neither nullified the previous elections nor ordered fresh elections,” Tarar said.

    The politician said that PTI is unable to understand what the verdict states “in English”.

    Meanwhile, PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry tweeted, “The decision of the High Court has further aggravated the political crisis in Punjab. There are many flaws in this decision.”

    Hamza Shehbaz was elected CM Punjab on April 16 with 197 votes, while PTI and Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) candidate Pervaiz Elahi received no votes.

  • Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Zardari to be new neighbours?

    Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Zardari to be new neighbours?

    Former President Asif Ali Zardari has reportedly bought two bungalows of 14 kanal in one of the elitist areas of Gulberg in Lahore, reports The News.

    According to media reports, discussions to purchase another bungalow of 6 kanal for residential purposes in Lahore are ongoing. This bungalow is situated in front of PPP’s rival Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi’s house near Gaddafi Stadium.

    If the deal finalises, Zardari and Qureshi would become neighbours. It is pertinent to mention that Qureshi left PPP in 2011 after almost two decades of serving under the leadership of Benazir Bhutto. Since then, he is on bitter terms with PPP.

    Zardari and his son Foreign Minister (FM) Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari’s current residence in Baharia Town in Lahore will be converted into a farmhouse.

    Earlier, the former president hinted at buying a residence in Gulberg so that he can hold more meetings with people, as it gets difficult for people to come to his residence in Bahira Town.

    Stronghold in Punjab

    According to Geo Urdu, Zardari is currently in Islamabad. However, he will later visit Lahore and hold meetings to discuss the political crisis in Punjab.

    Prior to this, the PPP co-chairman claimed that his party will form the next government in the Centre after winning the next general elections.

    “The next government (in the Centre) will be the PPP’s. I promise if I get a chance to return to power, I will turn around Pakistan 110 degrees. The PPP has the capability to help the country negotiate all the challenges,” said Zardari.

    Talking about politics in Punjab, Zardari said, “The PPP has to sacrifice its politics to save Pakistan. I will myself look into the party affairs in Punjab and ensure its revival here.”

    “We will strengthen our party in Punjab and ensure we get our fair share in the province,” he said.

    Criticising former Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan, Zardari said that the policies of the “anokha laadla” (favourite) had caused price hike and inflation in the country.

    The PPP is currently ruling Sindh, where it is in power for the third time in a row, while it is also a major stakeholder in the incumbent federal government.

  • IK sold three watches to local dealer gifted to him as PM for Rs37 million

    IK sold three watches to local dealer gifted to him as PM for Rs37 million

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan reportedly sold three luxury watches worth more than Rs154 million to a local watch dealer in Islamabad. The watches were gifted to him by visiting dignitaries from Gulf countries when he was Prime Minister (PM), reports The News.

    By selling these watches, Khan earned a whopping amount of Rs37million. According to the news report, instead of buying these watches from Toshakhana with his own money, Khan first sold the watches and then deposited 20 per cent of each in the government treasury.

    It has been revealed that these gifts were never deposited in Toshakhana. These watches were supposed to be submitted to Toshakhana as per the laws that restrict any head of the state to possess the gifts they receive from officials of other countries.

    The most expensive watch among these three was assessed at Rs101 million. However, Khan had declared he sold it for Rs51 million and deposited the 20 per cent of its sales money, which is Rs20 million, in the government treasury, thus earning a whopping Rs31 million. The watch was sold on January 22, 2019.

    By selling a Rolex Platinum watch gifted by a member of a royal family from a Gulf island, Khan almost earned Rs4.5 million profit in November 2018, two months after it was gifted to him.

    Another Rolex watch gifted by a dignitary from the same Gulf island was sold by the former PM. This time Khan made Rs1.5 million profit from this deal.

    It is pertinent to mention that these watches are in addition to the ones reported earlier in the media.

    In April, PM Shehbaz Sharif revealed that Khan took gifts worth Rs140 million from Toshakhana and sold them in Dubai.

    Earlier, responding to the Toshakana controversy, Khan had said they were his gifts, so it was his choice whether to keep them or not.

  • ‘Khan is complaining about institutions being neutral since he cannot win otherwise’: Bilawal

    ‘Khan is complaining about institutions being neutral since he cannot win otherwise’: Bilawal

    Foreign Minister (FM) Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari criticised Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan and said that he is complaining about the institutions being neutral since undemocratic parties like his cannot win otherwise. Bilawal’s comments were in response to the allegations made by PTI after the first phase of local body elections held in Sindh.

    “The beneficiaries of rigging are complaining before you. They cannot win. Imran Khan is complaining about our institutions being neutral since undemocratic parties like his cannot win otherwise. This is why today they are running a movement for our institutions to play a controversial role instead of a neutral and constitutional one,” said Bilawal addressing the National Assembly (NA) today (June 29).

    “Like Imran Khan, there are a few parties, politicians, and puppets in Sindh who are helped and made to come forward in a dictatorial rule. They were hoping, like Khan, for our institutions to not be neutral but controversial,” said the foreign minister.

    “When our institutions started becoming neutral, be it the Election Commission, the courts, or other institutions who used to take interest in elections, these people started panicking,” said Bilawal.

  • ‘Altaf Hussain is Nelson Mandela’: Fawad Ch responds to Farogh Naseem’s remarks about Khan

    ‘Altaf Hussain is Nelson Mandela’: Fawad Ch responds to Farogh Naseem’s remarks about Khan

    Former law minister Farogh Naseem revealed that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan was the one who ordered filing a reference against Supreme Court (SC) judge Justice Qazi Faez Isa.

    “It was Imran Khan himself who had ordered filing a reference against Justice Qazi Faez Isa,” Farogh claimed on Geo News programme, ‘Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath’.

    The former law minister was responding to Khan’s admission that filing a presidential reference for the removal of Justice Qazi Faez Isa was a mistake and that he had been misguided by relevant officials about the facts of the case.

    Naseem further stated that a reference against Justice Isa was filed because of a report by the Asset Recovery Unit (ARU), which was headed by Shahzad Akbar back then.

    “This is total nonsense. Around seven in the morning, I got a call from Imran Khan sahib, Naeem ul Haq was alive at the time. He [Khan] asked that since the eradication of corruption was the PTI government’s agenda, therefore the reference should be filed immediately.”

    “Let’s assume for a minute that I was behind filing the reference, but the decision-maker was Imran Khan sahib and the president of Pakistan. They now want to attract Hamid Khan, who was once Justice Isa’s lawyer.”

    Responding to Naseem’s allegations against Khan, former Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry tweeted, “Altaf Hussain is Nelson Mandela :)”

    Farogh Naseem also revealed that former Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari wished to be defence and foreign minister when PTI was in power.

    Earlier, senior lawyer and former PTI leader Hamid Khan said that Khan confessed to committing blunders that cost PTI politically.

    Hamid said that Khan admitted that he was misled on Justice Qazi Faez Isa’s issue, adding that he had told Khan that the reference was a mistake because the judge was an honest man.

  • ‘Khan through paid social media teams is running vulgur, abusive trends against COAS, DG ISPR’: Aisha Gulalai’s letter to CJP

    ‘Khan through paid social media teams is running vulgur, abusive trends against COAS, DG ISPR’: Aisha Gulalai’s letter to CJP

    Former Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawmaker Aisha Gulalai Wazir has written a letter to the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial, demanding the apex court to take suo motu notice of the anti-army campaign being run “by PTI Chairman Imran Khan”.

    In the letter, she demanded the court to put Khan’s name on Exit Control List (ECL), for a treason case to be registered against him and that he and his party should be banned.

    Gulalai argued that Khan is “shamelessly” dragging the army into politics. “Criticising it [army] for being neutral, maligning it, threatening with dismembering the country, waging civil war and creating anarchy in the country, if the army stayed neutral,” she added.

    Furthermore, she said, “Acting like a mafia, Khan and his party through social media teams are running shameful, abusive and vulgar social media trends against Pakistan army, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa and Director General (DG) Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Major General Babar Iftikhar.” Along with these allegations, she also attached screenshots as proof.

    Gulalai also alleged that they [Khan and PTI] are using some mainstream media channels and journalists for their propaganda.

    The former PTI member also pointed out that in this way Khan is trying to “instigate the masses” against the armed forces. Moreover, she said, “Khan is threatening the state that he will disclose the security secrets of Pakistan.”

    She also alleged that the provincial government recruited social media influencers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) with Rs736 million from public funds.

    Giving the reference of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leader Altaf Hussain — who is banned due to hate speech — and Member National Assembly (MNA) Ali Wazie, Gulalai wrote that if their hate speech cannot be allowed who actually “never went to such an extent”, Khan “should be no exception and above law”.

    Who is Aisha Gulalai Wazir?

    In 2017, Gulalai quit PTI and alleged that her then-party Chairman Imran Khan had sent her inappropriate text messages but she did not reveal any other details to support her allegations.

    According to her, she is not the only one who faced this and claimed many women in the party are facing similar issues.