DNA
The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) have taken former prime minister Imran Khan to task over his alleged confession to orchestrating a protest outside the army’s headquarters.
The development has come after Khan, while speaking to journalists during a hearing of a case inside Adiala jail on Monday, acknowledged he had given a call for holding a peaceful protest outside the Pakistan Army’s General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi, before his arrest in response to the “attack” on his Zaman park residence by law enforcers.
In response to the PTI founder’s claim reported by media, the party leaders have said that the remarks were wrongly attributed to Khan as he had not said such a thing.
PML-N leader and Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, in a statement today, said the “mastermind” of May 9 incidents had finally confessed to the sin of architecting and facilitating them.
Maryam termed the PTI an anarchist group, saying its only aim was to harm the state through mischiefs. She also alleged that Khan’s Zaman Park residence served as a hub for terrorists.
“Zaman Park remained the training headquarters for terrorists, where training was imparted to make petrol bombs and to attack the state,” she said.
Referring to the PTI founder’s injury following which his leg was plastered, she said the May 9 tragedy was planned during the “drama of tying the leg in plaster for four months”.
On the PTI’s claim that it had called for a peaceful protest, she queried what kind of peaceful protest it was, wherein more than 200 military installations were vandalised.
“Pakistan Air Force planes were set on fire, corps commander’s house was burnt and martyrs’ memorials were defiled.
“Writing a letter to the IMF is part of this big conspiracy to make Pakistan default. Conspiracies to wave ciphers and desecration of martyrs’ memorials are part of all this,” she said.
Moreover, the Punjab CM demanded strict action against the miscreant and anarchic group saying it was a “necessity for national security and national interests”.
She also alleged the PTI of alienating friendly countries from Pakistan, saying its leaders used foul language against leadership of the friendly countries.
Maryam said the same party attacked the parliament, PTV, and Prime Minister House in 2014 as well as caused the Chinese president to postpone his visit.
Meanwhile, PPP leader Senator Sherry Rehman termed Khan’s admission of committing the felony of May 9 as a confessional statement.
“Finally, Imran Khan has admitted that he gave the call for protest outside the GHQ,” she said demanding the former PM to seek apology from the nation.
She said the confession to giving call for attack on institutes was not sufficient, Khan should seek apology for his crime.
The PPP leader said he continuously held the government and state institutions responsible for the violent protests. He even targeted sensitive institutes in a bid to evade his arrest, she maintained.
Additionally, the politico lambasted the incarcerated PTI founder for curtailing others’ facilities in jail during his tenure and enjoying “every facility” himself.
Rehman said he was giving interviews in foreign journals by meeting the party leaders, while claiming that they had been kept in a “terrorist cell”.
“In the past, no leader has been given video link and interview facilities from jail. Has Imran Khan forgotten his fascism in the past? Those who snatched facilities from the jails of opponents are asking for facilities for themselves today. While today they have every facility in the jail,” she said.
It is pertinent here to mention that the former premier has been embroiled in a series of cases for his alleged involvement in the May 9 riots, triggered after his arrest in a graft case, which saw several military and state installations including the Lahore Corps Commander’s residence being vandalised.
The then-government as well as the one currently ruling have time and again blamed the PTI founder and the party’s senior leadership for engineering allegedly “organised” attacks on military installations.
Despite securing relief in some cases, the ex-PM still faces as many as 12 cases related to the May 9 incidents which are being heard by an Anti-Terrorism Court.
Of the 12 cases, five cases had been registered at Sarwar Road Police Station, three cases lodged at Gulberg Police Station, and one case each at Race Course, Shadman, Mughalpura, and Model Town police stations.
