ISLAMABAD: The incarcerated Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founding chairman Imran Khan on Friday said that Bushra Bibi’s statement was “intentionally taken out of context to draw our brotherly country into a needless controversy” as she never mentioned Saudi Arabia in her video message.

“Bushra Bibi didn’t mention Saudi Arabia at all,” Khan said, in a statement on X.

A day ago – in a video message in connection with PTI’s November 24 sit-in – Bushra Bibi alleged that when the ex-prime minister Imran Khan went to Madina barefoot, the then-army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa started receiving “their calls”, implying that the Saudi officials had a role in his ouster.

She claimed that Bajwa was asked, “Who is this person you have brought with you […] we don’t want such personalities.”

PM Shehbaz vows strict action against those ‘sabotaging’ Pak-Saudi relations

“Since then, they launched a smear campaign against us and started calling Imran a Jewish agent,” she alleged.

The statement drew strong backlash from government officials, calling it a “suicide attack” to harm friendly relations between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.

However, Imran rebuffed the government’s impression, saying that he had “excellent relations” with Saudi Arabia. “When I was attacked in Wazirabad, one of the first calls I received was, through the embassy, from Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman,” he wrote, noting that the Kingdom has always stood by us in difficult times.

He continued that only two weeks before the PTI-led government was toppled, “We held a very successful (Organization of Islamic Cooperation) OIC foreign minister’s conference in Islamabad, which would have been impossible to do had Saudi Arabia not supported and stood with us.”

He also claimed that his government was toppled through conspiracies, all orchestrated by former Army Chief General Bajwa.

“I tried to have these investigated through the Chief Justice and General Tariq Khan, but General Bajwa did not allow that to happen,” he added.

Khan reiterated that his wife has no connection with politics and she only conveyed his message to the nation regarding the November 24th protest.

Calling November 24 the day ‘to break free from slavery’, he said that the rule of law, constitution, and human rights were suspended in Pakistan, forcing the nation to come out to protest and make sacrifices.

“The nation must decide whether to wear the yoke of slavery like Bahadur Shah Zafar or to adorn the crown of freedom like Tipu Sultan,” he added.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024