LAHORE: PTI Chair­man Imran Khan on Friday expressed his gratitude to the PDM government for putting his name on the exit control list (ECL), saying he had no plan to visit abroad.

In a tweet, Mr Khan shared his picture with his sons hiking somewhere in northern areas in the past and wrote he was missing the same these days.

The tweet drew the ire of Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb reprimanding him for not remembering the young men, who were pushed to commit crime on May 9 and arrested, with their parents helplessly running from pillar to post to get them back.

As the government put names of several other PTI leaders on the no-fly list, Mr Khan in separate tweets stated, “I want to thank the government for putting my name on the ECL as I have no plans to travel abroad”. Giving reason for expressing his gratitude, the former prime minister said he neither had any properties or businesses nor even a bank account abroad.

“If and when I do get an opportunity for a holiday, it will be in our northern mountains, my favourite place on earth,” he said.

“The only thing I miss these days is hiking in our northern mountains with my sons,” Mr Khan said.

The information minister chided him by saying, “Shameless man”. She said Mr Khan was thinking about hiking with his children sitting in London, while the parents of “misguided” young people, who committed the crime of May 9, were running from pillar to post to see their children.

Meanwhile, GB Chief Minister Khalid Khurshid Khan welcomed Mr Khan’s desire to visit the country’s northern areas. “InshaAllah, Chairman Imran Khan would be highly welcomed in the north if he decides to visit,” he said. He criticised the decision to put Mr Khan’s name on ECL and called it a desperate and useless measure.

Published in Dawn, May 27TH, 2023