RAWALPINDI: Incarcerated Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan, a day after being convicted in £190 million corruption case, has said that he will not let Al-Qadir University fall into the hands of ruling Sharif family, his lawyer said on Saturday.
His remarks came a day after Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz said that the varsity “is now under my control” and scholarships would also be given to its students.
The PTI founder and his spouse Bushra Bibi were handed down 14 and seven years imprisonment in the high-profile £190 million corruption case by an accountability court in Rawalpindi on Friday. In its verdict, the court also ordered the federal government —led by CM Maryam’s uncle Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif — to take control of the Khan-founded university.
Addressing a press conference outside the Adiala Jail on Saturday, Faisal Chaudhry — Khan’s counsel — conveyed the jailed former prime minister’s message, saying “We are ready to face all kinds of hardships for true freedom.”
Quoting Khan, He said: “I will not bow down to any pressure.”
Lauding the former first lady, the lawyer said that she had endured hardships and sufferings just because of supporting Khan.
Expressing dissatisfaction over the accountability court verdict, Khan’s counsel said that the prosecution could not prove allegations about money laundering against his client.
A day earlier, addressing an event of “Honhaar Scholarship Programme” at the University of Okara, CM Maryam said that “theft has been proven in the Al-Qadir Trust case”.
“Imran Khan is the first [former] prime minister who has been caught red-handed while committing corruption,” added CM Maryam.
The chief minister said that she saw a video of some students who had invited her to visit them. “Students will get religious and conventional education at the varsity and I will also award scholarships and laptops to them,” she added.
“I want to hand over scholarships to our children, not petrol bombs. Those children who have been given petrol bombs are now in jail. They were encouraged to attack police and blindly believe whatever content they watch on social media.”
She asked students to become the strength of the province’s progress. “Your energy is what I need because you all are my core strength. To bring development to this province, I rely on your dedication,” CM Maryam added.
