Opposition Leader Shehbaz Sharif Got Arrested in Corruption Case

The latest high-profile figure to get arrested under Prime Minister Imran Khan’s anti-corruption movement is the PML-N and Opposition Leader, Shehbaz Sharif. 

Shehbaz Sharif, president of Pakistan’s one of major political parties PML-N and leader of the opposition, has been arrested by the Pakistani authorities against corruption charges. He is the latest prominent political figure who has been arrested as a result of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s anti-corruption drive. 

On Monday, Sharif’s hearing of a money laundering case was scheduled. Right after the judge rejected his appeal for bail, Sharif was arrested from inside the premises of the high court of Lahore.  

The court was densely thronged by the supporters of Shehbaz and his political party PML-N for the case trial who then chanted and raised slogans against the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and the government right when their leader was being led away by the officials. 

Whereas Shehbaz Sharif has denied all the charges put against him saying that all the assets that are being probed are in the name of his relatives and that he does not have any kind of connection with them and their acquirement.

Maryam Aurangzeb, the spokesperson for PML-N, while accusing the government of Shehbaz Sharif’s arrest, said that Shehbaz Sharif will fight back all these false allegations through the court. 

The arrest is the reaction to the All Parties Conference and its plans and that Prime Minister Imran Khan should not be believing that they are afraid of such tactics, said the spokesperson while talking to the reporters in Lahore today. 

However, ShibliFaraz, the Information Minister has repudiated the accusation that the judgment was a political move by the government. 

Pakistan’s Opposition Political Parties held a conference on September 20 in which they had announced the formation of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), a drive to unseat the current Prime Minister Imran Khan and his government. 

On the other hand, Prime Minister Khan has made the anti-corruption drive the cornerstone of his time of rule. His government has been pursuing cases against many long-time political leaders, which include Nawaz Sharif, the elder brother of Shehbaz Sharif and the leader of PML-N, Asif Ali Zardari, the former president of the country, Fazl-ur-Rehman, the leader of JamiatUlema-e-Islam (JUI-F), and numerous of each of their family members. 

Opposition, as well as the critics, believes that the government’s anti-corruption movement is one-sided with all the targets being Imran Khan’s political rivals while the members of his party and their allies are left untouched. 

In addition to this, Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government has been blamed for narrowing down the media and its freedom with little to no coverage being given to opposition parties and the condemnation of military being strictly forbidden.