ISLAMABAD: As the political temperature commenced to soar due to his wife’s controversial statement (of 21st Nov) which the apposition said was against Saudi Arabia, Imran Khan took to the X Friday (22nd Nov 2024) to say that he had excellent relations with Saudi Arabia and Bushra BB’s statement was deliberately taken out of context to draw KSA into a needless controversy.
“November 24th is the day to break free from slavery. The rule of law, constitution, and human rights are suspended in Pakistan, forcing the nation to come out to protest and make sacrifices. The nation must decide whether to wear the yoke of slavery like Bahadur Shah Zafar or to adorn the crown of freedom like Tipu Sultan.
“I have excellent relations with Saudi Arabia. When I was attacked in Wazirabad, one of the first calls I received was , through the embassy, from HRH Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Saudi Arabia has always stood by us in difficult times. Only two weeks prior to our government being toppled, we held a very successful OIC foreign minister’s conference in Islamabad, which would have been impossible to do had Saudi Arabia not supported and stood with us.
“Bushra Bibi’s statement was deliberately taken out of context to draw our brotherly country KSA into a needless controversy. She didn’t mention Saudi Arabia at all. My government was toppled through conspiracies, all orchestrated by General Bajwa. I tried to have these investigated though the Chief Justice and General Tariq Khan, but General Bajwa did not allow that to happen.
“Bushra Bibi has no connection with politics; she only conveyed my message to the nation, as my wife, regarding the November 24th protest. The nation would focus on the November 24th protest. God willing, you will emerge victorious”.
Before the proclaimed day of do-or-die march to the capital (on 24th Nov), former 1st lady Bushra Bibi, who used to accompany her husband, the then PM, during foreign visits (from 2018 to 2021), claimed on 21st Nov that after Imran Khan arrived barefooted to visit Medina, Bajwa started getting calls about ex-premier.
BB stated: “When he returned, Bajwa started getting calls ‘who have you brought into power? We’re abolishing Sharia in this country, and you have brought a proponent of Sharia. We don’t want him’.” According to her, since IK did not want Bajwa to be questioned about the barefoot pilgrimage and sharia matter, he never made the matter public.
Former COAS Bajwa, maintaining that terms with KSA had always been cordial, rejected BB’s claims as 100 percent lies: “National interests should not be harmed to gain political mileage by making baseless allegations.” PM Shehbaz Sharif insinuated: “A statement has come out yesterday…there can be no greater enmity against Pakistan than this that you spew venom against the country that has never demanded anything in return and always opened its doors for Pakistan.”
PTI’s Central Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram, managing the crisis, posted on X: “PTI view the relationship with Saudi Arabia with great respect and dignity and want to further expand on the brotherly and friendly relation...“Bushra Bibi did not directly or indirectly name the leadership or government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in her message, nor is there any possibility of doing so.
“Rather, she pointed to the characters whose chief was General Qamar Javed Bajwa who were active against an elected democratic government internally and externally and who created an environment at the expense of state resources at the local and international levels to pave the way for the regime change project!”
Newspakistan.tv
