Pakistan: Nawaz Sharif Party Leader's Call to 'Behead' Imran Draws Backlash; PTI Repeats ‘Oppression, Rigging’ Claims

A viral remark by a leader of Nawaz Sharif’s party has drawn condemnation, underlining the inflammatory rhetoric in Pakistan’s political landscape after the controversial February 8 elections.

In a video whose date News18 could not verify, PML-N’s Secretary of Information, Marriyum Aurangzeb, can be heard saying PTI chief founder Imran Khan and his party members should have been beheaded in 2014. “When the Chinese president was arriving in Pakistan, this fitna should have been addressed at that time. His head should have been beheaded,” the PML-N leader was quoted as saying by Pakistan’s The Express Tribune.

‘Let the world know’

In a statement on its social media handle, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) responded strongly and said, “Let the world know that Secretary Information for Nawaz Sharif’s PMLN, Mariyum Aurangzeb has called for Imran Khan’s beheading LIVE on state television channel. This is not the first time members of PMLN have brazenly advocated for Imran Khan’s murder.”

“Imran Khan has already survived multiple assassination attempts since the conspiracy of regime change operation in April 2022, and is currently under illegal incarceration for 196 days. Despite unprecedented state fascism, oppression & rigging, Imran Khan’s PTI-backed candidates won 180/266 National Assembly seats, securing a two-thirds majority, while PMLN only won 17 seats,” the party added.

Marriyum’s comments in the video were also condemned by prominent civil society members. Pak journalist Kamran Yousaf urged everyone to express their opinions without resorting to such inflammatory language. Social media commentator Imran Afzal Raja went on to label PML-N a “terrorist party”. This row comes as the recently held polls did not return a clear majority for anyone, but independent candidates backed by Khan won 92 out of 264 seats.

Khan ruled out alliances with the three largest parties, which means his candidate currently lacks the numbers to form a government. Meanwhile, PMN-L and PPP are in talks to conjure the required numbers to form a government at the federal level.