WEB DESK
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Wednesday slammed attempts to slander him through ‘propaganda’ using a ‘fugitive’ and linking an alleged sale of a gifted watch, adding that he will approach the courts over the matter.
He said this while addressing a rally in Jehlum and Sargodha via video link from his Lahore’s Zaman Town mansion on Wednesday,
Imran addressed the elephant in the room, the claims made by UAE-based businessperson Umar Farooq Zahoor that he had paid $2 million in cash for a rare watch, pen, ring and cufflink set which Imran had received as a gift from the Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman during a state visit to Saudi Arabia soon after taking oath as prime minister in 2018.
He said that a fraud man, who was an absconder from European countries and against whom the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had registered a case, was now issuing a statement against him in the Toshakhana case.
“He (Umar Farooq) is a fraud and a propagandist and there is nothing substantial in his statement,” Imran said, brushing aside the allegations.
“First they tried to drag me on the foreign funding issue. But after its failure, they converted it into a prohibited funding case, and now they are trying to assassinate my character through the Toshakhana case,” Imran said.
The PTI chief announced that he will approach the courts over the latest attempts by the government to discredit him.
Imran then went on the offensive, and in traditional style started pointing fingers outwards to deflect attention.
He said that for years a case has been pending before the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) against former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani who retained a car he had been gifted.
“Unfortunately, no one is pointing that out, nor is NAB probing the case.”
On the purchase of the watch from the Toshakhana and its sale, Imran claimed that he did not understand what the fuss was about given that he had done everything as per the law while all the receipts had been submitted in the Toshakhana which the government can access at any moment.
