‘Stingy' Imran Khan doesn’t even buy his own clothes, claims Khawaja Asif

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, in an exclusive interview with The Current, levelled multiple allegations and unleashed personal jabs on Friday against jailed former prime minister Imran Khan.

Stressing that Imran Khan was very "stingy", the defence minister alleged that the former star cricketer didn't spend a penny on himself.

“I am saying it on record that he didn't even buy clothes with his own money in his entire life,” Asif said, then recalled a famous saying, “You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.”

He then mocked the former premier, saying that Imran Khan had six to seven personalities. “Sometimes, he becomes religious; sometimes he starts having illegitimate children; sometimes he has affairs with women; sometimes he becomes a cricketer; and sometimes he starts practising Piri Faqiri (spirituality).”

He said that Imran Khan has no specific personality, as he is totally confused. “However, he [Imran Khan] is sure about one thing: that the end result must favour him,” he added.

Asif further said that when he alleged that Imran Khan had syphoned off seven million dollars, the latter filed a case against him.

Asif further said that the former premier stashed the money abroad by siphoning it off, claiming, “He [Imran Khan] did not bring the donation into the country. He cross-examined me in the court.”

The defence minister was alluding to the defamation suit worth Rs10 billion that Imran Khan had filed against Asif in 2012, for levelling allegations of non-transparency, money laundering and use of anonymous companies in Shaukat Khanum Memorial Trust (SKMT) funds.

In his lawsuit, Imran Khan referred to the August 1, 2012 presser during which the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) top brass had accused Imran of lost in “real estate gambling” a huge amount of funds donated to the SKMT in the form of Zakat, Fitrana or other kinds of donations.

The PML-N stalwart’s harsh criticism of the PTI head came in reply to a question about who he would vote for, Imran Khan or PPP's Asif Ali Zardari. The defence minister took no time to answer that he would vote for Zardari, stating that he's at least “not a hypocrite.”