ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) vice president Maryam Nawaz, after her and husband Capt Safdar’s (retd) acquittal in the Avenfield properties corruption reference on Thursday, demanded a Panama case like joint investigation team (JIT) to probe into the audio-leak of former prime minister Imran Khan, allegedly for ‘playing a horrible game’ with the nation through the ‘cypher conspiracy.’

Talking to the media after Islamabad High Court’s (IHC) ruling, Maryam demanded that a JIT should be formed to probe into the audio-leak through hearings on a daily basis just like the JIT that investigated the Panama leaks case.

She said that the JIT should comprise government ministers, representatives of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), officials from the Intelligence Bureau (IB), members of the Law Ministry, and representatives of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).

She further stated that former prime minister Imran Khan, his then principal secretary Azam Khan, former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, and Ambassador Asad Majid Khan should be summoned and inquired as to “how could they play such a horrible game with the nation?”

“We should do this. [And] If we can’t even do this, then we need to go home and sleep,” she added.

Further commenting on the audio leaks, Maryam said that the leaks were not surprising for her, adding that she knew from day one that “he [Imran Khan] is a liar and a cunning person”.

“But, as a Pakistani the shocking thing for me was this conspirator, who through getting the dollars, spread destruction, divide, and anarchy in Pakistan. [And] an irresponsible person remained in power for four years who does not even know how serious a crime it would be to play with national security,” she maintained.

She added that when Imran Khan got to know that the vote of no-confidence would succeed against him since even his party lawmakers were not ready to support him, he concocted a “conspiracy” that his government will be ousted through a “US-backed plan”.

“Through such conspiracy, forgery and tampering, he used to call Pakistan a country of salve to international establishment and a weak state,” she further alleged, adding that he had to write letters to friendly countries and the UN against Pakistan based on that ‘conspiracy’ which he framed and forged together with Azam Khan.

“He [Imran Khan] played with the country’s fate. He thinks of the country as a game and tampers with its future, just like he did at the Gaddafi Stadium [during his cricket times]. He hasn’t even come out of the stadium,” she further maintained.

She accused Imran Khan of violating his oath as the premier, allegedly by “hatching the conspiracy” through the diplomatic cypher while sitting at the PM House.

She further maintained that Imran Khan repeatedly tells the people to break the shackles of slavery but refuses to name America and claims that “X, Y, and Z” people are behind his ouster.

Maryam also criticised PTI’s former finance minister Shaukat Tarin for directing Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab finance ministers to write a letter to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and withdraw from the deal.

“Do you know what would have happened had Pakistan not gotten the money from IMF? What can we say about the mindset of such a person?” she further asked.

Maryam added that Imran Khan “violated his oath” by mudslinging and “conspiring” against his political opponents. She further stated that despite being the prime minister, Imran Khan attacked the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and other state institutions.

Talking about the IHC’s ruling, Maryam thanked Allah Almighty, saying that “this is how lies come to an end”. She also thanked her legal team for fighting her case throughout the years.

During her media talks, she received a telephone call from Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and in the conversation the duo congratulated each other.

She maintained that no political leader in the history of the country has gone through such tough accountability as Nawaz Sharif. Maryam also shared her conversation with her father, Nawaz Sharif, with saying that she told him that he faced the lies for the past six to seven years, “but today you come out victorious and give more respect.”

She added that Nawaz Sharif’s legal teams had advised him not to face the hearings in the Avenfield reference, as they only want her to be punished. “Despite that not only Nawaz Sharif, but his children also faced the trial. And the Almighty succeeded us all today,” she added.

Maryam said that she wanted to see the face of Imran Khan today who “lied, conspired” and focused his entire 30 years of his politics on Nawaz Sharif. “Today, I want to see the face of that person. What would he like to say today? I would also ask him that the Almighty has proven him a liar and a conspirator, today. What would you do now? What would you like to say, now?” she asked Imran Khan.

She further said that Nawaz Sharif would also come back “very soon”, the way Ishaq Dar has returned to the county in the same plane of the Prime Minister in which he had gone. “I would only like to say to Imran Khan. You’re a helpless person now. You have to give the answer as to why you lied and made fabricated cases. Whether you give the answer for your lies or not, the history will indeed make you answerable,” she further told the PTI chief.

When asked that the case against her was registered against her before the PTI came into power and that some “establishment” was allegedly behind the move, Maryam instead of responding pose a query as to who was the beneficiary?

“Who was the beneficiary of all these? The one who removed Nawaz Sharif that “conspirator” is now sitting far away. The beneficiary was well on board and it was done under a well-thought-out plan…He [Imran] lacked that credibility to come into power and he came through this case into power. Had Nawaz Sharif remained on the ground [during the 2018 elections], Imran Khan could not have been able to come to power even if he was granted three lifetimes,” she maintained.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and PML-N Quaid Nawaz Sharif also congratulated Maryam Nawaz after the IHC acquitted her and Capt (retd) Safdar in the Avenfield reference.

Nawaz Sharif talked to Maryam Nawaz on phone and congratulated her over her acquittal in the case. “God helped you succeed. The opponents failed,” Maryam told Nawaz Sharif.

“Congratulations! Soon you will come back to Pakistan, honourably,” Maryam told her father.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022