Tareen questions govt’s ‘victimization drive’ against him

‘Estranged’ Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) leader Jahangir Khan Tareen said on Wednesday that not one, not two but three FIRs had been registered against him as his loyalty to the party is being tested, reported 24NewsHD TV channel. 

Talking to the media outside a banking court in Lahore, Tareen said his loyalty to the PTI was being tested. “I ask as to why I am being victimized. I was Prime Minister Imran Khan’s friend. Why am I being turned into a foe,” he questioned. 

At the same time, however, he made it clear that he had not parted ways with the PTI. “I have toiled hard for my party for 10 years. I am part of PTI, and will remain so,” he vowed. 

When a reporter asked him about his much-talked-about meeting with Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari, Tareen said that was not true. 

Tareen regretted he had been facing an inquiry for the last one year, but he had not uttered a word against the government. “I demand justice from the PTI government,” he said, and asked, “Why my and my son’s bank accounts were frozen and who is benefitting from it.” 

The estranged PTI leader said his persecution at the hands of the PTI government was increasing with each passing day. “The time has come that whosoever is behind all this witch-hunt is exposed,” Tareen said, and claimed that if Prime Minister Imran Khan desired he could expose these elements. “Am I the only sugar mill owner they are after?” he questioned.  

Meanwhile, a banking court, while extending the interim bail granted to PTI leader Jahangir Tareen and his son Ali Tareen, barred the Federal Investigation Authority (FIA) on Wednesday from arresting the accused till April 10.

It is pertinent to mention here that Tareen reached the banking court accompanied by several members of assemblies. 

Earlier, these legislators and ministers namely Raja Riaz, Ghulam Bibi Bharwana, Nauman Langryal and others attended a meeting at Tareen’s residence in Lahore.  

At the meeting, they vowed not to leave the PTI leader in these testing times, and support him till the very end.   

Acknowledging Tareen’s services for the PTI, they called upon PM Imran to provide justice to him. 

Raja Riaz says Tareen helped PM win trust vote

PTI MNA Raja Riaz has said that Jahangir Khan Tareen helped PM Imran win vote of confidence immediately after PTI won the general elections of 2018. “Such vindictive policies are only hurting the party,” he said, and claimed that Tareen had done nothing wrong and was innocent.

A tweet by PPP leader Syeda Shehla Raza on Tuesday hit the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leadership very hard. Shehla Raza dropped the hint in her tweet that PTI estranged leader Jahangir Khan Tareen is holding meetings with PPP leaders and is probably going to join Bhutto’s party soon.

She said in her tweet that Jahangir Tareen held a meeting with PPP leader Makhdoom Ahmad Mahmood and he would hold a meeting with PPP Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari in Karachi next week. She said that Jahangir Tareen was probably going to announce quitting the PTI and joining the PPP at the upcoming meeting along with his companions. If it really happens, she said, neither Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar nor Prime Minister Imran Khan would survive.

Reporter Qazaffi Butt