Those Receiving Nawaz Sharif at Lahore Airport Are 'Donkeys', Says PTI Chairman Imran Khan

Narowal, July 13: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan took a jibe at his rival Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), saying those who have gone to receive embattled former prime minister Nawaz Sharif at the Allama Iqbal International Airport in Lahore were "donkeys."

Addressing a rally here on Thursday, Khan said, "How will Muslim Leaguers go to the airport to receive Nawaz Sharif? Will they tell their children that they went to welcome the thief (Sharif) who had looted billions of rupees from the country?"

He asserted that no PML-N party worker with a clear conscience would go to the airport to receive Sharif. "And whoever will go to receive him will be a donkey (fool)," according to The News International report quoting Khan.

Khan added, "The father and daughter have stolen Pakistan's wealth and they are coming to the country while waving their hands (to the people). They are thieves and now they are defying the law."

Calling PML-N president Shahbaz Sharif as a "conman", the cricketer-turned-politician said that the PTI has been fighting against corruption in the country in the last 22 years. Khan urged the people to vote for his party in the general elections on July 25, vowing to build a developed and strong nation.

People of the country would reject corruption and looters, Khan said adding, "I believe in dignity, honour and respect for votes and voters, but the nation has no respect for plunderers." Khan requested his party workers to show patience ahead of Sharif's arrival from London later in the day.

Meanwhile, Nawaz and Maryam, who were in London to meet the former's ailing wife, Kulsoom, left for Pakistan on Friday. According to The Dawn, Nawaz and Maryam are expected to land at Lahore's Allama Iqbal International Airport at 6.15 p.m. (local time) from Abu Dhabi on Etihad Airways flight EY243.

On July 6, Nawaz was sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment, and a fine of eight million pounds was slapped on him in the Avenfield reference case, while Maryam was sentenced to seven years of jail and fined two million pounds by the Accountability Court.

The father-daughter duo will be arrested on their arrival at Lahore airport from where they will be taken to Islamabad by a helicopter, and then will be sent to Adiala jail for imprisonment.