ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan on Tuesday lashed out against Asma Jahangir, former Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) president, for her comments against the party’s sit-in in Islamabad.

There was confusion in various circles about exactly what Khan was responding to when he said “Asma said that women attend the PTI sit-in to dance when she herself dances on her visits to India. I think she has become friends with the Jamiat Ulema Islam-Fazal chief.”

Jahangir in talk show on Monday night said that the sit-ins were characterised by dancing and in a separate comment talked about women’s participation.

“Asma speaks with the permission of the United States,” Khan said.

The SCBA President condemned Khan’s comments against Asma Jahengir for being inappropriate and said that to Khan everyone but his own party is bad. “I don’t think his statements are even worth a response,” he said.

Also on Tuesday, the PTI chief questioned Maryam Nawaz Sharif’s eligibility to run the Prime Minister’s Youth Loan Programme as a chairperson.“While it is the government’s responsibility to provide young people with loans to start their own businesses, Maryam Nawaz’s capacity to run the program is questionable as I doubt she knows anything about microfinance,” he said.

He alleged that the Prime Minister likes to spend his time outside Pakistan on foreign trips to further his own business.

“First, the prime minister visited China and now he is in Germany but I don’t think that he can bring back investment through these visits,” Khan said.

“”Foreign investment will come to Pakistan if the government reforms institutions,” he added.

He said that the government could bring foreign investment to the tune of Rs 300 to 500 billion in minerals which will provide millions of jobs. PTI is in the process of inviting foreign companies to invest in different sectors, he said.

“PTI’s tsunami will reach Nankana Sahib tomorrow, it will go to Sahiwal on Saturday and Jhelum on Sunday,” Khan announced.

Published in Dawn, November 12th, 2014