ISLAMABAD   -   Prime Minister Sheh­baz Sharif on Tuesday called out the politics of Pakistan Tehreek-e-In­saf chief Imran Khan stating that Imran’s blatant lies were all about maligning the Army without proof, running a media cam­paign against martyred troops and using reli­gion for political gains.

“I have no doubt that your [Imran Khan’s] politics is defined by blatant lies, untruths, U-turns, and vicious at­tacks on institutions,” he said in a detailed tweet where he put counter-questions to Imran Khan against his earlier tweet.

PM Sharif said Imran Khan while on a trial for corruption was claiming legitimacy to over­turn the legal and political sys­tem. “Bending the judiciary to your whims and behaving as if rules don’t apply to you,” he said. He pointed out that ma­ligning Pakistan Army as an in­stitution was a recurring pat­tern in Khan’s politics after his ouster from power. “Did you not resort to constant mud-slinging of the leadership of the army & intelligence agency much be­fore the Wazirabad attack?” he questioned.

The prime minister said the PTI chief refused the offer of co­operation from the federal gov­ernment and boycotted the le­gal proceedings. He said Imran Khan was never interested in finding the truth about the at­tack but used the condemnable incident for petty political ob­jectives. “What legal route did you adopt other than hurling threats & making baseless al­legations almost on a daily ba­sis?” he said. Sharif questioned at whose behest the savaging social media campaign against the martyrs of the armed forc­es launched after the helicop­ter crash.

“Which party did the troll bri­gade belong to that mocked the martyrs, which was a new low and unimaginable in our pol­itics and culture? With these subversive and treacherous acts on your part, do we need an en­emy?” he said.

He said, “Who used religion for political purposes by de­scribing the political agitation in religious terms, a cunning and self-serving attempt at ex­posing political opponents to vi­olence at the hands of your sup­porters.” He recalled that Khan’s party leaders condoned, justi­fied, and even celebrated the in­cident of harassment and intim­idation of an official delegation including a female minister in the courtyard of the Prophet’s Mosque (Peace be upon Him) by disregarding all norms of rever­ence and devoutness.

“As for your assertion of Paki­stan becoming a ‘jungle’, I advise you not to go there, for the facts are often bitter and disastrous. Let us keep this for another day,” he said. Meanwhile, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb said on Tuesday that the masses would not come out in support of Im­ran Khan if he was arrested. Giv­ing her reaction on Imran Khan’s statement through her twitter handle, she said Imran would be arrested in connection with prohibited foreign funding case, Toshakhana gifts theft case and for not revealing his daughter.

Many cases against Imran Khan were registered and he was guilty in all of them, she main­tained. The minister remarked that the person who launched a dirty campaign against the mar­tyrs of the Armed Forces, could not call it “my army”. Similar­ly she said the person who con­spired against the country and made the people hungry and un­employed could not term them as “my people “.