'Shehbaz Sharif govt trying to get rid of me through treason charge'

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan has said leaders of the ruling coalition in the country want to eliminate him from politics over "high treason" but he has vowed that he will not surrender. "The two most corrupt, who looted the country for 30 years, parked their illicit wealth in foreign banks, and were convicted by the courts, are trying to get rid of me through a case of high treason," Khan told a gathering of his party's workers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Friday.

"I want to make it clear to them that I am not the one, who will surrender to the imported government or any superpower," he was quoted as saying by Dawn newspaper. Alleging that leaders of the Shehbaz Sharif-led coalition wanted to get corruption cases against them quashed, Imran also accused the government of planning to rig the next general polls.

"They (Zardari and Sharif) want to introduce a system of governance, where only small thieves are punished, while the big thieves get off scot-free. We, the patriotic citizens, have to fight against them and that system," he said. Imran Khan's rebuke comes as the Pakistani government is mulling whether to file treason charges against the former prime minister over his party's 'Azadi March' last month that led to large-scale violence in Islamabad.

Multiple scuffles took place between the police and PTI marchers after Imran Khan and his convoy entered Islamabad and started marching towards the D-Chowk despite the Supreme Court's order to hold a rally at a ground between areas of Islamabad. He later had called off his long march and sought help from the Pakistan Supreme court. During a key cabinet meeting, top officials of Shehbaz Sharif's government briefed the participants on Azadi March' held on May 25.

Earlier this week, Pakistan Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah requested the committee to recommend to the federal cabinet that Imran Khan be charged with treason. "PTI's long march was a fitna and fasad March, instead of 'Azadi March' as it was an armed uprising on the capital. Therefore, I urged the committee to recommend filing a treason case under section 124(A) of the CrPC [Code of Criminal Procedure] against Imran Khan and chief ministers of KP and GB," Daily Times quoted him as saying.

"With planning, around 2,500 miscreants were already sent to Islamabad and they tried to capture D-Chowk before the arrival of Imran Khan," he said.

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