ISLAMABAD: Dr. Musadik Malik, Minister of State for Petroleum, claimed on Monday that PTI Chairman Imran Khan was attempting to avoid arrest by using a “human shield,” which was impeding the efficient execution of court summonses in the Toshakhana case.
The minister claimed during Imran Khan’s three and a half years in power that he had made grand declarations about turning the nation into a true welfare state modeled after Madina, but that in reality, he had adopted a feudal mentality where any powerful person was thought to be above the law. “In the Riasat-e-Madina, there was no distinction between the strong and the weak. However, Imran Khan used a human shield to avoid being arrested when police arrived to carry out the court order.
He said it was unfortunate that a person, who remained prime minister of Pakistan, was not abiding by the country’s laws and court orders, adding Imran Khan’s this act was tantamount to challenging the writ of the state.
Musadik Malik said the PTI chief was hurling threats to state institutions to protect his corrupt practices and wanted interference of institutions in each other’s work.
He said Imran Khan was constantly skipping court proceedings and making provocative statements to create disturbance in the working of the state institutions.
The minister recalled that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Muhammad Nawaz Sharif had been disqualified and removed from the party’s top slot for not getting salary from his son’s company even though it [salary] was justified.
He said Imran Khan remained in corrupt practices which were evident from the fact he handed over a ‘gift’ amounting to $ 250 million to Malik Riaz of Bahria Town, the laundered money recovered by the British authorities, and in return got 450-kanal land.
Similarly, he said, the PTI chairman gave a ‘gift’ of $1 billion (Rs 270 billion) to Karachi Electricity Supply Company because Imran Khan received £2-3 million from Arif Naqvi’s cricket club.
He said the incumbent coalition government, under the leadership of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, believed in the charter of democracy and take along all political parties for the progress and prosperity of the country, but it would not protect the corrupt practices committed by Imran Khan.
Answering a question about getting petroleum products from Russia at a discounted rate, the minister said Pakistani teams were in “constant engagement” with Russian authorities, adding shipment of petroleum products and insurance modalities had been finalized. “All commercial details are in their final stages…hopefully we will meet our deadline. All things are on schedule, which means all matters will be finalized by March-end, and the first order will be placed in April, following which Pakistan will continue getting cheap oil from Russia.”
Responding to another question, Musadik Malik said a sufficient quantity of gas would be diverted to the fertilizer sector to facilitate the farming community for better production of upcoming seasonal crops, assuring smooth gas supply to domestic consumers, especially during meal times as per the earlier announcement.
