Though Rehman did not take any name, it is an open secret that he was referring to Imran Khan’s “blue-eyed” Lt General Faiz Hameed, the former chief of the Pakistani spy agency ISI. ..writes Mrityunjoy Kumar Jha
In a shocking revelation, one of the top three Pakistani opposition leaders, Maulana Fazlur Rehman has told the Pakistani army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa that few of his generals are involved in a “conspiracy” to block the no-confidence vote and go for the dissolution of the National Assembly, Pakistans parliament.
In an interview with a local TV channel, Rehman said that while General Bajwa has been talking about “neutrality” of the military establishment and non-interference in the ongoing fight between Imran Khan and the combined opposition, his generals are helping the tainted Prime Minister. When he was asked to name them, Rehman said it is not the right time to “expose” them.
“Don’t force us to name these people,” warned Rehman.
He asserted that for Pakistan’s stability, the military establishment has been a solid pillar and all of us have great regard for it. But there are people in the army who are involved directly in this conspiracy and he will expose them.
“I know what I am talking about and those people will come after me but I am ready,” said the cleric politician. He added that the military establishment should act swiftly against those generals otherwise he will be forced to “expose” them.
“They are people who want to keep Imran Khan as an asset,” Maulana Fazlur Rehman said.
“The Army says we are neutral, we explain every day but today when the whole world is asking what happened in the National Security Committee, where are the generals, clarify your position. It is not that we will remain silent. The army should immediately clarify its position, otherwise we will speak openly,” Maulana warned.
Though Rehman did not take any name, it is an open secret that he was referring to Imran Khan’s “blue-eyed” Lt General Faiz Hameed, the former chief of the Pakistani spy agency ISI. In fact Bajwa had “deployed” Hameed to help in bringing Imran Khan as the “selected” Prime Minister after rigging the general elections in 2018. Since then, they became so close that Imran Khan was mulling to appoint Hameed as the next army chief, replacing General Bajwa.
Suspecting the plot, Bajwa immediately replaced Hameed with his close confidante Lt General Nadeem Anjum as the new ISI chief. Imran Khan resisted and tried to thwart Bajwa’s move but finally Bajwa won but the “differences” between Khan and Bajwa became out in the open.
According to the estranged friend of Imran Khan, the former assembly member Aamir Liaquat Husain, he had warned Khan against appointing Hameed as new army chief, saying it would lead to a strong reaction from all over the country.
“You tried to create division in the army. You tried to pit a corps commander and tried to remove the Army chief,” Liaquat Husain said in a video message.