‘Listen to me carefully’: Imran doubles down on allegations against senior military official – Pakistan

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PTI chief Imran Khan on Tuesday doubled down on his allegations against a senior serving officer, whom he has repeatedly accused of plotting to assassinate him.

The PTI Chairman made the remarks before leaving for Islamabad to appear before the Islamabad High Court (IHC) in a mutiny case and another relating to attempted murder charges.

His biting retort comes a day after Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said Imran’s irresponsible and baseless allegations against the said military officer without evidence were extremely unfortunate, deplorable and unacceptable.

At a rally on Saturday, the PTI president again named a senior intelligence official for orchestrating plans to assassinate him. I’m on the road despite verifiable threats to my life. I’ve escaped an assassination attempt once. On the second occasion, I could smell the planning of a murder, he had said.

It was not the first time that the former Prime Minister made these statements. After an assassination attempt last year, Imran held Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah and the top intelligence official responsible for the assassination attempt and demanded that they resign.

In a video message shared on Tuesday, Imran responded to ISPR and attempts by PDM and their handlers regarding his arrest. He said he was leaving for the federal capital because he had to appear before two courts.

Before I go, I want to say two things. First, the ISPR released a statement that the institution was not respected and the military was not respected. [by] name an intelligence officer who tried to kill me twice.

ISPR sahib, listen to me carefully. Respect is not [confined] at a single establishment; respect must be for every citizen, he said.

Imran pointed out that he was the leader of the largest political party in the country, adding that he didn’t need to lie.

This man tried to kill me twice and whenever there is an investigation I will prove that it was this man and there is a whole gang with him, Imran said, adding that the nation knows well who stood with the officer in question.

My question is: [Despite being] an ex-prime minister of the country because that man’s name came up [why was] I can’t save a first information report (FIR)?

He said the truth would only come out once an investigation was carried out. If he was innocent, it would have been revealed, the PTI chief said, calling the officer in question such a powerful figure that he was unable to register a case while in power in Punjab.

He said two senior police officials refused to be part of the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) formed by the Punjab government to investigate the attack on his life in Wazirabad. Who was behind? Who was this powerful?

He alleged that when the JIT determined that three shooters were involved in the incident, the team itself was sabotaged and four Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) officials changed their statements.

The Attorney General investigated. He said action should be taken against the four because they attempted to sabotage [the JIT]. Who was behind them? Who was this powerful?

The head of the PTI further claimed that he would prove that the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) took control of the Islamabad court complex the day before he came to attend a hearing in the Toshakhana case in March.

The president of the PTI has already affirmed that he did not get out of his vehicle because unknown persons had positioned themselves there with the intention of killing him.

I will prove that ISI [officials] were present in CTD uniforms and in lawyers’ attire. I will prove that a brigadier, whom I will not name, was there to watch everything. What was the ISI doing there?

Imran said the mother of slain journalist Arshad Sharif also took the names of the intelligence officer and the gang he was part of, but no investigation was carried out as he was a holy cow and therefore at the above the law.

Sahib ISPR, when an institution takes action against black sheep, it enhances its own credibility. An institution that catches the corrupt gets stronger.

He said action is taken when a doctor or employee does something wrong at Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital (SKMH).

It’s my army, my Pakistan, not just yours. This is our army, Imran asserted. He also lamented the crackdown on those who voiced their criticism of the military establishment, saying it was actually hurting the institution.

The PTI chief went on to say that there was also no need to bring in a heavy contingent of police and other officials when he appeared in Islamabad courts today.

If anybody got a warrant, come straight to me [] I’m ready to go to jail [] spend as much money as if a major criminal came to Islamabad. Do us a favor and don’t stage such a drama and directly provide a warrant, he said, saying he was mentally ready to go to jail.

He also said that the plan Dirty Harry hatched involved a gang of people, adding that God willing he was ready to die at their hands. He ended his video message by calling on the nation to prepare.

Back and forth continues between PM, Imran

Hours after the PTI leader released the video statement, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif took to Twitter to say he had no doubt that Imrans’ policies were defined by blatant lies, untruths, U-turns and vicious attacks on institutions.

On Sunday, the prime minister said Imran’s act of regularly slandering and threatening the Pakistani military and intelligence agency for petty political gain is highly condemnable.

Responding to the prime ministers’ tweets, Imran asked on Monday whether he had the right to name those he believed to be responsible for the attacks on him. Why was I deprived of my legal and constitutional right to register an FIR?

Does SS [Shehbaz Sharifs] tweet means military officers are above the law or can’t commit crimes? If we allege that one of them has committed a crime, how is the institution slandered? He asked. Who was so powerful to sabotage the Wazirabad JIT while the PTI government was still in power in Punjab?

Imran added: Can Shehbaz Sharif explain why the ISI took control of the ICT court complex the day before my appearance on March 18? Why were the ISI staff at the CTD and the lawyers camouflaged? What was the motive and what were ISI’s activities in the complex?

He then said that when the prime minister finds the answers to these questions, they would all point to a powerful man and his accomplices all being above the law.

It is time for us to officially declare that in Pakistan there is only the law of the jungle where might is right, Imran added.

On Tuesday, the prime minister answered Imrans’ list of questions with one of his own, lambasting the PTI chief for bending the justice system to your whims and behaving as if the rules don’t apply to you.

What I said about you in my tweet is established by facts from the past few years, he said.

He noted that slandering the Pakistani military was a recurring pattern in Imran’s politics after his ousting. Didn’t you resort to constant insults towards the leaders of the army and the intelligence services long before the attack on Wazirabad?

The Prime Minister also asked what legal course Imran had taken other than issuing threats and making baseless allegations almost daily.

You refused the federal government’s offer of cooperation and boycotted the lawsuits. You were never interested in finding out the truth about the attack, but used the condemnable incident for petty political purposes, Shehbaz said.

He also asked at whose request the savage social media campaign against armed forces martyrs was launched following the crash of a Pakistani army helicopter in Balochistan last year.

Which party belonged to the troll brigade that mocked the martyrs, which was a new and unimaginable low in our politics and culture? With these subversive/treacherous acts on your part, do we need an enemy?

In his final question, the Prime Minister asked who used religion for political purposes by describing political agitation in religious terms, calling it a cunning and self-serving attempt to expose political opponents to violence from your supporters.

Did your party leaders not condone, justify and even celebrate the incident of harassment and intimidation of an official delegation, including a female minister, in the courtyard of the mosque of our beloved Prophets (PSL) ignoring all standards of reverence and devotion? he asked, referring to an official visiting Pakistani delegation that was accosted and heckled at the Masjid-i-Nabwi in Medina last year in April.

Let it be perfectly clear that as a former Prime Minister, currently on trial for corruption, you claim the legitimacy to overthrow the legal and political system.

As for your assertion that Pakistan would become a jungle, I advise you not to go there, because the facts are often bitter and disastrous. Let’s save that for another day, said the Prime Minister.

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