ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan on Monday termed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif “the biggest security threat” for the country and overtly stated that the army may be required to “deal with” his government.

Speaking to reporters outside his Bani Gala residence before leaving for Malakand, he said: “Pakistani fauj ka jo iss waqt role hai woh sab se ehm hai. Zarb-i-Azb se ley kar, Balochistan se ley kar, Karachi se ley kar, aur Chhotu gang se lekar; hosakta hai motu gang keliye bhi zaroorat parr jaye fauj ki.” (The Pakistan Army’s current role is extremely important; from Zarb-i-Azb to Balochistan to Karachi to the Chhotu gang… the army may even need to deal with the motu gang).

‘Motu gang’ is a slur the PTI chief has used in the past to refer to the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).

“I promise that, God-willing, at least one million people will pour into Islamabad and the rulers will not be able to stop them from coming here on Nov 2,” Mr Khan said.

“We will not go to jail. In fact, you will not find any place to hide,” the PTI chief declared, adding that PM Sharif still had time to consider two options — either resign or present himself for accountability over the Panama Papers scandal under the terms of reference (ToR) prepared by opposition parties.

When asked why he was going ahead with his protest when the Supreme Court was hearing petitions related to Panamagate, including his own, on Nov 1, Mr Khan said he was well within his rights to opt for legal recourse and protest against institutions that were not dispensing justice.

Alludes to possibility of army ‘dealing with’ PML-N govt

Though Mr Khan clarified that his protest was not aimed at the Supreme Court, he was not very optimistic about the fate of his efforts at that forum.

“I am against all the institutions that are supposed to provide justice but have done nothing so far,” he said.

Mr Khan alleged that PM Sharif was “appealing to the Indo-Israeli lobby merely to save himself from accountability” and accused him of “isolating the army”.

He said the prime minister had damaged the reputation of the army and security agencies by speaking the language of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He added that the Indian prime minister had stated several times that PM Sharif wanted friendly ties with India, but the army did not approve.

The PTI chief also lashed out at Defence Minister Khawaja Asif for not coming to the defence of the army and intelligence agencies.

“Instead of defending the army and security agencies at the international level, the defence minister is busy trying to save the prime minister from accountability,” he added.

The PTI chief alleged that India always came to PM Sharif’s rescue whenever he came under pressure.

“We have noticed a pattern; whenever something is brewing against Nawaz Sharif, firing breaks out on the Line of Control (LoC),” Mr Khan said.

He also regretted the recent US allegations that the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) was behind terrorism in Afghanistan.

The PTI chief also took PML-N members to task for attacking him and the Shaukat Khanam Memorial Cancer Hospital.

“For God’s sake, spare the hospital that spends Rs4 billion every year to treat the poor,” he said, calling on the government to take action against him for any wrongdoing instead of resorting to “political blackmail”.

Later, senior PTI leaders also met to discuss their strategy for the Nov 2 protest.

This meeting was also attended by PTI vice chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi, secretary general Jahangir Tareen and Islamabad MNA Asad Umar.

An official handout released after the meeting stated that participants discussed the possible places to stage sit-ins to block roads leading to Islamabad.

The participants also expressed fears that the government was planning to pit citizens against the police and the administration. They reiterated that while the PTI wanted to hold a peaceful protest, party workers would not tolerate any police brutality.

Published in Dawn October 25th, 2016