Khan sees divine purpose to it all?
PTI chief Imran Khan was quoted by Daily Dunya (16 Jan 2017) as saying that the Panama case was God’s way of taking suo moto notice of the Prime Minister. He went on to say that he was identifying a ‘cricket team of corruption’, and that he would consider PM Nawaz Sharif to be its captain.
A case of obsession, according to Maryam Aurangzeb
According to Daily Dunya (16 Jan 2017), Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Maryam Aurangzeb stated that jealousy (hasad) had made Imran Khan mentally unstable (zehni mareez) and that the PTI chief is focused on Nawaz Sharif whether asleep or awake. The PML-N minister went on to say that Imran Khan had been unable to prove anything in court.
Discontent
Daily Dunya (17 Jan 2017) reported on a dispute between PPP workers and the party leadership over plans for a rally from Lahore to Faisalabad. The Lahore workers of the party demanded that party leaders who made money during their time in government should pay for buses to transport party activists from Lahore to Faisalabad in the rally. To this, the party’s information secretary Ch. Manzoor Ahmad replied that if the Lahore activists were unwilling, the party could bypass the city in the rally. This incensed the Lahore party workers further. Arif Khan stated that in the future, party workers would not go to jail alone – but they would take their leaders in handcuffs with them to jail.
Sheikh Rasheed’s plans
The leader of the Awami Muslim League Sheikh Rasheed was quoted by Daily Dunya (17 Jan 2017) as saying that Imran Khan and Tahir-ul-Qadri had had their dharna protests, and that now he would hold his own suicide dharna (khudkush dharna). He went on to say that those who did choon choon over the military courts would do cheen cheen after the general gave them the look (general ke aankhein dikhaanay par).
1000 reasons for building a cultural wall?
Daily Jang (17 Jan 2017) reported on a high-level committee set up by the Prime Minister over the issue of import of Indian films to Pakistan. The report quoted sources saying that after the downturn in Pakistan-India relations, distributors and cinema owners had of their own accord halted the dissemination of Indian films, but that despite this, the films were available from the Internet and other means – and that this was causing severe losses to the Pakistani film industry.
Persistence?
Sheikh Rasheed was quoted by Daily Dunya (18 Jan 2017) as saying that if the Sharif family were to show him a money trail, he would take back his case in court, but if they did not do so, he would pursue them all the way to the grave (qabr tak peecha karoon ga).
Modi offers conditional hugs?
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was quoted by Daily Express (20 Jan 2017) as saying that he was willing to embrace (gallay lagaana) Pakistan, if it would curb the infrastructure of militancy.
Of London and Landa…
Daily Nawa I Waqt reported that senior PML-N leaders had said that the Prime Minister had nothing to do with Panama Leaks and that Imran Khan and Bilawal Bhutto Zardari had been educated in London (degree London ki) but that their thinking was from the flea market (Landa). The senior leaders from the governing party were further quoted as saying that these two leaders needed further moral education (ikhlaqi tarbiyat).
Freudian?
Daily Express (22 Jan 2017) reported on a slip of tongue from senior PPP leader Sardar Latif Khan Khosa. When asked whether the PPP was a friendly opposition to the government, Khosa said that PPP leader Bilawal Bhutto Zardari was known to have raised the slogan “Galli galli mein shor hai, Asif Zardari chor hai” [in every street there is a clamour: Asif Zardari is a thief!]. The report went on to state that Khosa immediately realized his error and corrected the chant, replacing Asif Zardari with Nawaz Sharif.
“Worry not! We have this figured out!”
Daily Nawa i Waqt (22 Jan 2017) quoted the leader of the Jamaat-e-Islami, Siraj-ul-Haq, as saying that some people were making us afraid of a Trump presidency, but that there was nothing to fear. He further stated that the arrival of Trump would not lead to the heavens falling (aasman nahin tootay ga), and that such people had come into office previously.