LAHORE: After Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced a series of “austerity” measures to reduce government expenditures, former prime minister Imran Khan took a swipe at the former and asked the rulers to “bring their looted wealth back” to Pakistan if they “really wanted” to control inflation.

In an address from his Zaman Park residence, the PTI chairman said that the government should stop “fooling the people and if the rulers want to do something for the people of Pakistan, they should bring back the wealth looted during the past three decades”.

“By reducing the number of vehicles and selling state land will not result in reducing the inflation,” he said while reminding the premier about his stance on inflation during the tenure of the PTI government. “If you do not remember, we will bring all your speeches on social media,” he said while addressing PM Sharif.

Mr Khan accused him of playing a part in the conspiracy that toppled the PTI government in April last year. “You, Asif Zardari, your brother in London, and the former army chief jointly hatched conspiracy and involved foreign forces … and eventually toppled the government,” Mr Khan alleged.

“You had promised that the country will be put on the path of progress and prosperity but what happened to Pakistan during the past 10 months is frightening,” Mr Khan said and claimed that the rise in inflation is unparalleled in the past 50 years.

The PTI chief said his government left inflation at 12.5 per cent while in the past 10 months, it has increased threefold. “Even an enemy will not do what has happened in the last 10 months in the country,” he added.

As he alluded to the steep devaluation of the rupee against the US dollar, the former premier said the rupee shed more than Rs100 against the dollar and “you were asking the masses to be ready for more inflation” in light of the agreement with the IMF.

“I do hope that PM Sharif should make a statement about bringing the national wealth stolen by Asif Zardari and the Sharif family back to the country,” he said and added only half of the looted money could fix most of the problems faced by the country.

The PTI chairman also lauded the party leaders and workers for enthusiastically participating in the “Jail Bharo Tehreek” and also acknowledged that people and lawyers had also come out on the roads in droves when he appeared before the Lahore High Court.

“People also wanted to come out on roads and block the [day-to-day] functioning of the imported government but I stopped them because the country’s situation does not warrant such type of protests,” he said.

Imran Khan said due to the policies of the government, Pakistan has already “gone bankrupt” and it has got no leg to stand on in the world. He claimed the industry, which was booming in his tenure, had been closed down leading to massive joblessness. Mr Khan said the nation was ready for “real independence and ensure that the country is rescued from the clutches of mafia”.

Published in Dawn, February 23rd, 2023