Break the idol of fear, Imran tells his supporters

CHAKWAL: Former prime minister and Pakistan Tehrik-e-insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has encouraged his party leaders and supporters to threaten back those threatening them from unknown phone numbers.

Invoking the mysterious figures of “Mr X” and “Mr Y,” he urged the party activists to smash “the idol of fear” and combat their threats with similar threats.

He said those trying to intimidate party cadres through calls from secret numbers will now be dealt with similar tactics.

“Break the idol of fear, the call that comes from an anonymous number to threaten, give it back to them. They give threats, return those threats,” the PTI chief told a public rally.

He also questioned the Director General of the Inter-services Public Relations’ (ISPR) decision of rebuting his statement about the army chief’s appointment, saying the ISPR chief should have at least understood what he said and what it meant.

The PTI chief said that he wanted army chief’s appointment on merit, saying he had said that ex-premier Nawaz Sharif and ex-president Asif Ali Zardari could never do selection on merit as they were not even familiar with the concept of merit and can’t see beyond their families.

The ISPR had taken a strong exception to the PTI chairman’s remarks regarding the appointment of the new army chief, saying it was “aghast at the defamatory and uncalled for” statement about the institution’s senior leadership. “Regretably, an atempt has been made to discredit and undermine the senior leadership of the Pakistan Army at a time when the institution is laying lives for the security and safety of the people of Pakistan every day,” the official statement had read.

The ISPR said that the senior politicians trying to stir controversies on COAS’ appointment, the procedure for which is well defined in the constitution, was most unfortunate and disappointing.

While criticising Zardari’s decision to appoint his son, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhuto Zardari, as PPP chairman and Sharif’s decision to make his daughter Maryam Nawaz as the “queen” of his party, Imran argued that they both should have picked up Aitzaz Ahsan and Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, respectively, as their experience and acumen was unmatched.

He also lashed out at Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif for appointing his son as Punjab chief minister, saying Sharif and Zardari families do not even understand the concept of merit. He claimed that his opponents’ assets were abroad and they can’t stand for true freedom of the country as they were slaves of the countries where their money and assets were stashed.