Islamabad, Feb 5 (IANS): The Pakistan coalition government lashed out at PTI Chairman Imran Khan over his move to initiate "jail bharo tehreek" (fill the prison movement), throwing the gauntlet to the former premier to lead by example and withdraw bails in the cases against him.
Addressing the media, Pak Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb maintained that the PTI chief was "scared" of going to jail and had been "hiding" at his Zaman Park Lahore residence, "using" his party workers for his politics, The Express Tribune reported.
"Leadership is the first to go to jail in jail bharo tehreek. You (Imran) do not need this movement. Face the courts and jails will fill automatically (with PTI leaders)," she said.
Speaking metaphorically, the information minister asked the PTI chairman to start "doob maro tehreek" (die of shame movement) instead of jail bharo tehreek.
Directing a pun at Imran, she said those who "cannot go to jail for two days" would run the jail bharo tehreek, Express Tribune reported.
"Nawaz Sharif spent 374 days, Maryam Nawaz 157 and Asif Zardari spent 248 days in jail while Faryal Talpur was taken into custody on Eid day."
Marriyum, while referring to Imran, said that a man was repeating the same speech that he had been giving for the last 20 years. However, she said, it was not easy to "mislead' the people of the country, Express Tribune reported.
She said, Imran, during his government had taken loans worth Rs 25,000 billion and "handed over the country's economy to the IMF".