President Asif Ali Zardari. Photo: Archive
LAHORE:
Criticizing the jailed PTI founder for the third time in four days, President Asif Ali Zardari said that if Imran Khan was not prepared to serve jail time, he should not have entered politics as “serving time requires honour”.
Speaking at a meeting in Vehari on Tuesday, Zardari, without naming Imran Khan, said he should have done charity work or started cricket clubs and stuck to a profession if he was not prepared to face the rigors of prison.
The president was apparently referring to recent efforts by the PTI and opposition parties to secure Imran’s transfer to a hospital and his release, given his deteriorating vision in his right eye. Imran has been detained in Adiala Jail since September 2023.
Referring to his own imprisonment, Zardari said that when he was released, his son Bilawal, whom he had abandoned as a child, was taller than him. “Immediately after getting my release from prison, I suffered a heart attack,” he said.
Most of the questions during the interaction revolved around the PTI, which is in hot waters since the overthrow of the Imran Khan government in April 2022.
Zardari claimed that Imran Khan had not been running the government, but the then ISI DG Faiz. [Hameed]who, he claimed, ruled the country.
“What would he know about running the country?” he commented. When asked about links between the PPP and PML-N, Zardari said the alliance was formed out of concern for the country, suggesting that otherwise an aggressive ideology would have prevailed.
Criticizing the PTI-led government in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Zardari said it had done nothing for the province. He commented that only one individual knew how to give daily sermons.
Indirectly referring to Imran Khan’s children who expressed concern over the denied meetings, he said that after the country was free of his “sermons” for the last one and a half years, his children started complaining that they were not allowed to meet him. He added that Imran Khan’s rule had set the country back decades.
Regarding Kashmir, the president reiterated that it was an integral part of Pakistan, calling it the jugular vein of the country, and declared: “Without Kashmir, there is no Pakistan.” He said the country was blessed in every way, but lacked continuity.
When two PPP leaders were asked about the president’s recent stance, which appears to diverge from the party’s traditional position of defending human rights, they said he was seeking to improve the party’s future prospects by aligning himself with the power brokers.
“The PPP has a political future to safeguard, which requires such positions,” an official said, adding that the party has moved from resistance and reconciliation to compromise given the current situation.
Several leaders were contacted for comment but were unavailable. Zardari, who arrived in Lahore after a tour of Punjab, also chaired a meeting of local and provincial PPP leaders at Bilawal House and discussed internal party matters.
The meeting was attended by divisional and district presidents of the party, Central Punjab PPP Executive Committee members and newly appointed officials of Central Punjab districts.
In his statements, the president emphasized the importance of political dialogue and unity. He said that democratic commitment is the strongest instrument for justice, national cohesion and progress.
