'Biggest Blunder in the 75-Year History of the Country': Maryam Nawaz Attacks Imran Khan

Pakistan Crisis: Maryam Nawaz has said Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief and former prime minister Imran Khan should be thrown out of politics.

Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PML-N) senior vice president Maryam Nawaz has said Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief and former prime minister Imran Khan should be thrown out of politics, The Express Tribune reported, adding that former army chief (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa admitted that the establishment made a blunder by supporting the previous PTI-led government. "Bajwa sahab following his retirement admitted that he made a blunder like Imran Khan. It was the biggest blunder in the 75-year history of the country. This blunder wreaked havoc across the country," she was quoted as saying in the report while addressing a workers' convention in Multan on Sunday.

"Now we have to remove this stain from the nation's forehead. This fitna [mischief] should be thrown out of politics," she said. Nawaz said the "cabal of five" nurtured the former premier but "the same snake that they nurtured is now biting them". She was referring to former PM Imran's allegations that the then army chief, Gen Bajwa colluded with his rivals to topple his government in April last year, the Pakistan daily reported, adding that she also blamed the former military chief for the prevailing economic and political crises in the country.

On the arrests of PTI leaders, Maryam said, "Let's collect donations for sending them a truck load of tissue paper", according to the report. Responding to PTI chief Imran Khan's 'Jail Bharo Tehreek', Maryam said the former premier ran a 'Jeb Bharo Tehreek' (movement to fill their pockets) while he was in power, the daily reported further. The PTI chairman on Saturday asked his party's workers and supporters to prepare for a 'Jail Bharo' movement across the country, Geo News reported. Khan's comments come in the wake of sedition cases filed against his party's senior vice-president Fawad Chaudhry and former member of National Assembly Shandana Gulzar, while Senator Azam Swati and Shahbaz Gill were booked earlier for speaking against the military, Geo TV reported.

Khan, during a televised address, said the PTI could have opted for a nationwide strike but the party will choose to fill the prisons, instead, amid fears that the country's economy might deteriorate further. "We have two options: Considering what they have been doing, we could have gone for a wheel-jam strike and demonstrations, which is also a way and a democratic one," Khan said according to Geo News. "The state of the economy, which is already bad, will worsen further. Therefore, I ask all my workers, the Pakistani nation and everyone to prepare for a 'Jail Bharo' movement," he further said. The PTI chief said that his party will not remain quiet on the violence being inflicted on his party's members, the report said, quoting him further as saying, "We would now prepare for a Jail Bharo movement." "It was their plan to weaken Tehreek-e-Insaf by frightening and threatening us," he said.