Pakistan will ‘turn into Sri Lanka’ if Imran Khan is arrested: Sheikh Rasheed

Islamabad, May 16 (PTI) Pakistan will “turn into Sri Lanka” if former prime minister Imran Khan is arrested and the new government will be responsible for that, former interior minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed has warned.

Rasheed, while addressing a press conference in Faisalabad on Sunday, said that the incumbent coalition government had become directionless and was unable to handle the situation. Responding to a question, Rasheed said that if Khan is arrested, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has already devised a strategy to deal with the situation. “Pakistan will turn into Sri Lanka if Imran Khan is arrested and these people (the current government) will be responsible for that.,” Rasheed said.

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has accused Imran Khan of planning to trigger a civil war in the country and warned of legal action for concocting a narrative against the country’s national institutions. “I don’t want Pakistan to turn into Sri Lanka,” he said, adding that the country was nearing default. Sri Lank is currently facing the worst economic and political crisis in its history ever since it gained independence in 1948. “Shahbaz Sharif, you should address the nation and declare whether you’re going to go to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) or not,” he said, adding that the country has fallen short of USD 6 billion within a month.

Taking a jibe at the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), a coalition of parties that successfully toppled the PTI-led government through a motion of no-confidence, Rasheed said that Khan had become the nation’s hero despite his ouster. “The politics of 11 parties have died and the time to give respect to the vote has ended because votes were sold for Rs 250 million,” he said.

He said the state institutions should take all stakeholders on board, form a national government, appoint a technocrat prime minister, and hold the elections by September.