‘Conspiracy’ being hatched to kill me: ex-Pak PM Imran Khan

Lahore, May 14 (PTI) Ousted prime minister Imran Khan claimed on Saturday that a “conspiracy” to assassinate him was being hatched in Pakistan and abroad, warning that if anything happens to him, the people will come to know about the perpetrators through a video message he has recently recorded and placed in a safe place.

Speaking at a big rally at Sialkot in Punjab province, Khan said he came to know about the conspiracy a few days ago and has named all those involved in it in the recorded video.

“A conspiracy is afoot to take my life. I got full knowledge of this conspiracy a few days ago. The conspiracy is being hatched here and abroad against me in closed rooms. I have recorded a video about this conspiracy, naming all those involved in it. If something happens to me then the people will come to know who were behind this conspiracy,” Khan said at a big rally The chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf said he had placed the recorded video in a safe place. Earlier, he had said the names of all those involved in ousting his government were written on his heart.

Khan blames the US for sending his government home. He said he had asked the military establishment to intervene and save his government but it did nothing. “We are the followers of the Prophet and we will never bow down to any superpower. We never fear anyone accept Allah,” Khan said. He targeted his political opponents, warning the ‘three stooges’ – (Prime Minister) Shehbaz Sharif, PPP’s Asif Ali Zardari and JUI-F’s Maulana Fazlur Rehman – not to create any hurdles in his ‘Azadi movement’.

Khan has already announced a long march in Islamabad. He said the date of the march would be made public after May 20. He said over two million people will gather in the capital to oust this ‘imported government’. “This will be a revolution,” he asserted. Reacting strongly to Khan’s speech, Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said that Khan has now come up with this ‘fake story of his assassination’ to get the sympathy of the people.

“This man (Khan) has not learnt anything despite being in power for about four years. Now Khan is saying perhaps America and his opponents are hatching some kind of conspiracy against him. There is no place of this insane person in the Pakistani politics,” Asif told a private TV channel. The 69-year-old cricketer-turned-politician was voted out of power last month through a no-confidence motion, which he alleges was masterminded by the US with the help of local players over his pursuance of an independent foreign policy. His supporters used social media to target the army for doing nothing to save his government.

The state institutions like the judiciary and the military have been severely criticised since the Imran Khan-led government was ousted from power through a no-confidence motion. Since then, Khan held several public rallies in different cities, labelling the new government as “traitors and corrupt rulers” allegedly imposed at the behest of the US.

Since his ouster, he has blamed the US for conspiring against his government – a stance that the incumbent government has refuted.