Addressing a press conference in Lahore after the clash outside the NAB office, the PML-N leader said the crackdown on the party workers by the Punjab Police was the 'worst form of state oppression'. She was flanked by PML-N leaders Rana Sanaullah, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Marriyum Aurangzeb, and others.
“Not for me or the PML-N, it is a moment to ponder for the 'fake and selected’ government,” she said, adding that today the unarmed party workers present near the NAB office were shelled with tear gas and baton-charged. “For the first time I saw stoning and NAB-gardi and tear-gas shelling but the workers remained steadfast,” she said in an apparent appreciation.
According to the PML-N leader, NAB not only believes in 'injustice', it believes in the public display of it. She said the cases were made up against her, but not a single reference was filed. "During my detention at NAB jail, I was asked about everything, but the case."
Giving reasons about her arrest, she said in 2018, my father Nawaz Sharif and I were arrested to keep us away from the general elections. "The second time, I was arrested to stop me from taking part in the political rallies that were massive crowd-pullers," said Maryam. "I was arrested in front of my father," she added.
Talking about the NAB hearing that resulted in the clash, she said it was hard to understand at first the reasons for my summons because she was not attending any rallies nor were there any elections coming up.
"But, I assume I was summoned because of internal surveys conducted by the government that show that the graph of Nawaz Sharif and his party is on the rise," she said, adding that the government was afraid of this rising popularity.