Imran Khan admits giving call for protest outside GHQ

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IMRAN KHAN

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Special Correspondent

RAWALPINDI: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan has admitted that he gave a call for a protest outside the army headquarters in Rawalpindi before his arrest.

The former prime minister made the admission while speaking to the journalists during a hearing of a case inside Adiala prisons.

“I had given a call for holding a peaceful protest outside the General Headquarters (GHQ) before my arrest,” Imran Khan said, adding that police and Rangers attacked my house in Zaman Park on 14 March.

“Later on March 18, the law enforcers again forcibly barged into my house,” he said, adding that on the same day, the Judicial Complex witnessed shelling inside and outside its compound.

The cricketer-turned-politician referred to an incident last year when, ahead of his appearance before the court of Additional Sessions Judge Zafar Iqbal, fierce clashes erupted between his supporters and security personnel.

Back then, he had claimed that the government was planning to either assassinate or arrest him inside the Judicial Complex.

Recalling the March 18 incident, he said he understood that he would be arrested, adding that he then called for a peaceful protest in front of the army’s headquarters before his arrest.

The PTI founder said his counsels assured him that they would be part of the investigation and surrender to the police for arrest.

Replying to a question, the 71-year-old former premier said martial law was better than a technocratic regime, adding, “An unannounced martial law, however, remains in place in the country, aleready.”

BMI, a Fitch Solutions company, in its “Pakistan Country Risk Report” published on July 18, predicted who would fill the vacuum created by the “anticipated ouster” of the incumbent government.