Pakistan: Imran Khan ducks questions on Medina mosque sloganeering against Shehbaz Sharif
May 01, 2022
Islamabad [Pakistan], May 1: Ousted Prime Minister Imran Khan avoided condemning the hooliganism and sloganeering by the pilgrims at Masjid-e-Nabawi mosque against newly-elected Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his delegation, terming the whole incident as a "public reaction".
Worshippers present at the Masjid-e-Nabawi mosque in Madina raised slogans against Sharif and his delegation. Although Imran Khan refrained from commenting on the issue, he broke his silence on Friday, reported the News International.
"We are not asking the people to come out. It's the public themselves coming out to protest as they are in pain and anger, however, I can challenge they [the rulers] won't be able to show their faces in any public place," he said.
Further, the former Prime Minister of Pakistan said that his government was thwarted wrongfully by a foreign conspiracy and that the present government was also involved in the matter, reported the News International. He even added that the sloganeering at the mosque was a "result of their deeds".
"A bunch of crooks has been imposed on Pakistan and NRO-II is given through foreign conspiracy, therefore, what happened at Masjid-e-Nabavi was a result of their deeds," Khan said.
Imran Khan's party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf(PTI), refused to take on the blame for the misbehaviour. The PTI chairman stated that all the party members were busy in Shab-e-Dua when the incident took place, reported the News International.
Meanwhile, Anil Musarat, a London-based Pakistani PTI leader, denied that he was neither responsible for organizing the protest nor did he provoke anyone to do so. Sahibzada Jehangir, another PTI leader, asserted that he visited Saudi Arabia just to perform Umra and had no connection with the pilgrim protest.
Earlier, Pakistan's Prime Minister went on a three-day official visit to Saudia Arabia with his delegation, seeking an additional package of USD 3.2 billion from the Arab country. Sharif's decision is to avert further depletion of Pakistan's foreign currency reserves. During his visit to the Masjid-e-Nabwi mosque, a group of pilgrims chanted slogans, calling them "chor".
