The latest to leave former premier’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is Ali Zaidi, the President of party’s Sindh chapter, reports Asian Lite News
Joining the list of other leaders, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Sindh President Ali Zaidi announced on Saturday that he is leaving politics and resigning from party positions, reported Geo News.
Zaidi announced of his resignation from all PTI posts and said in a video message that he had joined politics for Pakistan and had already condemned the May 9 incidents. After much deliberation, the former federal minister made the “difficult decision” to leave politics.
“I’m quitting politics. I’m resigning from my positions of Tehreek-e-Insaf Sindh president, core committee member and MNA,” said Zaidi, according to Geo News.
However, Zaidi stated that he will continue to “work for Pakistan and bring investments from abroad” as he did before entering politics.
Following the arrest of PTI Chairman Imran Khan on May 9, Zaidi, other top-tier party leaders, and thousands of workers were apprehended. General Asim Munir, Chief of Army Staff (COAS), branded it “Black Day” and threatened to bring all those responsible for the attacks on military sites to trial, reported Geo News.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Sindh President Ali Zaidi
PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry on Wednesday this week announced his resignation from the party saying he has decided “to take a break from politics.”
“In my earlier statement where I unequivocally condemned the 9th May incidents, I have decided to take a break from politics, therefore, I have resigned from the party position and parting ways with Imran Khan,” tweeted Fawad Chaudhry.
Moreover, Asad Umar, the secretary general of PTI, also announced his resignation from all party positions after getting released from Jail, reported Geo News.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Shireen Mazari also announced her decision to quit PTI and politics recently.
Mazari’s announcement came after incidents in Pakistan on May 9 and 10 which she strongly condemned. She announced, “From today onwards, I am no longer a part of PTI or any political party.”
Shireen Mazari expressed her commitment to her children and her mother and stressed that they are her top priority at this time, ARY News reported.
Shireen Mazari has been arrested multiple times since the May 9 incidents. After the court ordered her release, She was taken away in a Vigo without a number plate, Dawn reported. Mazari was presented by the police in court in a case related to inciting party supporters in Kharian on May 9. (ANI)
The former premier maintained that he is not bothered by several PTI leaders who have in recent days called it quits….reports Asian Lite News
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan claimed on Tuesday that members of his party are being forced to leave the PTI at “gunpoint”, media reports said.
Speaking informally to journalists at an anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Islamabad, Khan said, “People are not leaving the party on their own, they are being forced to do so, and that too at gunpoint,” The Express Tribune reported.
However, the former premier maintained that he is not bothered by the several PTI leaders who have in recent days called it quits, saying that “parties never die down like that; they are weeded out like the [ruling coalition] PDM is eroding, the way their vote bank is depleting”.
“I am only worried about the workers, especially the women,” he added, The Express Tribune reported.
The PTI chief made these remarks ahead of his hearing at the ATC where judge Raja Jawad Abbas was hearing his petition for bail in eight different cases. The ATC granted interim bail to former Prime Minister Imran Khan in eight cases registered against him until June 8 related to violence that erupted at the Judicial Complex in March.
Multiple cases were registered against Imran Khan after clashes erupted between police and his supporters before he appeared at the judicial complex on March 18. Security was beefed up at the judicial complex and the NAB office ahead of the PTI chief’s arrival and a heavy contingent of police were deployed there to deal with any untoward incident, reported ARY News.
Today, Khan reached the Islamabad judicial complex, ahead of his appearance before the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) at its Rawalpindi office in the Pound 190 million settlement case.
The accused has to join the investigation after security interim bail but Imran Khan is saying his leg is injured and he cannot join the probe.
Slew of leaders exit PTI
PTI leaders Shireen Mazari and Fayyazul Hassan Chohan announced quitting the Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in a major setback to the top opposition party, which has seen a slew of leaders parting ways with it following the May 9 violence, media reports said.
The development came as several party leaders and lawmakers, including Aamir Mehmood Kiani, Malik Amin Aslam, Mahmood Moulvi and Aftab Siddiqui, among others, have publicly denounced the attacks on the state installations and announced leaving the former ruling party since the May 9 vandalism triggered by the arrest of Imran Khan, The News reported.
Addressing a press conference here, Mazari, a former federal minister and a close aide of Khan, condemned the May 9 riots during which PTI supporters ransacked and torched public and defence installations across the country, The News reported.
“I strongly condemn the May 9 violence. I have always condemned violence of any kind,” she remarked.
Mazari said she is not only leaving the party, but also politics.
“From today onwards, I am not a part of any political party,” she said.
The senior PTI leader also said that her health deteriorated during in the last 12 days of detention.
“My children and parents are [now] my priority. I condemn the violence against state symbols like the GHQ, parliament and the Supreme Court,” she added.
Sharing her ordeal, Mazari said her daughter, Imaan Mazari, had to go through a tough time due to her repeated arrests.
“When I was taken to jail for the third time, my daughter was crying a lot, I saw her video,” she said.
The seasoned politician went on to say that she had also submitted an affidavit to the Islamabad High Court (IHC) pledging that she will not become part of any violent protest in the future, The News reported.
The senior vice-president of the former ruling party had been arrested several times during the past few days following the May 9 riots triggered by the arrest of the former Prime Minister in the Al-Qadir Trust case.
PTI chief Imran Khan said “Army Chief General Asim Munir is worried that if I come to power, I will de-notify him.”
Former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan has blamed the army chief for his “abduction” on May 9 and distanced himself from violence that took place in several cities after his arrest.
He expressed these views while having brief conversation with media persons on the premises of the Islamabad High Court on Friday, reports Dawn.
“It’s not the security agencies. It’s one man, the army chief. There is no democracy in the army. The army is getting maligned with what is happening,” the PTI chief replied when asked about the impression that security agencies were against him whereas the judiciary was favouring him.
“And he (the army chief) is worried that if I come to power, I will de-notify him. Which, I tried my best to send him a message, I will not. All this is happening is direct orders from him. He is the one who is convinced that if I win, he will be de-notified,” alleged Khan.
The former premier also talked about “victimisation” of his party by the government, alleging that “5,000 people have been arrested during the last one year”, Dawn reported.
If your internet was off and there is one video you want to watch.
— Dr Suleiman Ali Khan (@SuleimanAliKhan) May 13, 2023
Khan said he had survived two assassination attempts and had only called for an investigation, regretting that his demand had been rejected.
Reiterating his position which he took in the Supreme Court on Thursday evening, the PTI chair said he was totally unaware of the developments which took place after his arrest and claimed that he had learnt that 40 people had lost their lives during the two-day protests.
Expressing “sadness” over the events that took place when he was in the custody of NAB, Khan stated that “the army is getting maligned because of just one man”, Dawn reported.
The development comes amid the ongoing crackdown on the PTI leaders and workers….reports Asian Lite News
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Senior Vice-President Fawad Chaudhry has been arrested outside the Supreme Court (SC) in Islamabad on Wednesday, Geo News reported.
The development comes amid the ongoing crackdown on the PTI leaders and workers. Fawad Chaudhry was present inside the Pakistan Supreme Court since 11 am (local time) in a bid to evade arrest, as per the news report. Chaudhry was arrested after he came out of the apex court premises. The Islamabad police has arrested Chaudhry under Section 3 of the Maintenance of Public Ordinance (MPO) and shifted him to the Secretariat Police Station.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf tweeted, “SVP @fawadchaudhry has been arrested outside Supreme Court despite having protective bail from IHC till 12th May. Law of the jungle is ruling in Pakistan.”
Speaking to reporters before his arrest, PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry said the lawyers community had become weak as there was infighting among them. He said, “Never has a petitioner been arrested in such a manner,” Geo News reported. He further said that Islamabad High Court had a day earlier, approved his pre-arrest bail which he had shown to Islamabad police earlier in the day.
Chaudhry said Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s arrest has resulted in a division in the country, as per the Geo News report. He said that space should be given to political opponents to pave the way for dialogue. Before Fawad Chaudhry’s arrest, the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) arrested PTI Secretary General Asad Umar from the premises of the Islamabad High Court.
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s accountability court has granted the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) eight-day remand of former Prime Minister Imran Khan in the Al-Qadir Trust graft case, Samaa reported. The Accountability Court Judge Muhammad Bashir had earlier heard the case and reserved his verdict.
At the outset of the hearing, the country’s top anti-corruption body sought 14-day physical remand of the former premier, Samaa reported. Imran’s council contended that NAB has no jurisdiction in the case, adding the anti-graft watchdog also did not share the inquiry report.
He maintained that a fair trial is Imran Khan’s fundamental right. “Imran Khan’s trial should be held in open court,” his counsel urged the court. After the hearing, the former PM’s lawyer held a press conference where he claimed that Khan alleged in court that he was tortured in custody and was not allowed to even use the washroom, according to the video posted by PTI’s official Twitter handle.
On Tuesday, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chairman Khan was arrested in a graft case, and presented before the accountability court at the Police Lines Headquarters. The accountability bureau will investigate the former premier at the Police Lines. Protests have erupted in Pakistan after Imran Khan’s arrest. The protests have led to widespread destruction of properties. (ANI)
The police targeted the party’s second-tier leadership in a new round of raids in order to weaken its position…reports Asian Lite News
The Lahore police continued massive raids in various parts of the city, arresting dozens more Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) workers amid allegations of harassment and abuse of power, Dawn reported.
The police targeted the party’s second-tier leadership in a new round of raids in order to weaken its position. DIG investigation Sohail Akhtar Sukhera, who is in charge of the operations, is said to have directed the police to crack down on the PTI workers. Police officials are avoiding media inquiries about the number of arrests made on Monday. The PTI leadership, on the other hand, claimed dozens of arrests and said that the crackdown had intensified after midnight.
According to a report published in Dawn, several police teams were dispatched to the leaders’ and party workers’ homes, offices, and other possible locations to arrest them based on lists provided to them following high-level meetings.
The PTI leadership has accused the police of ‘misusing power,’ claiming that officers harassed their family members, including children and women while forcing entry into their homes.
They told the media persons that the police had launched action against the PTI’s leaders and workers in Lahore soon after Caretaker Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi gave the police a free hand in the name of ‘the writ of the law’.
The police raided the homes of Hafiz Farhat Abbas, the PTI chairman’s political secretary, and Kiran Nadeem, the PTI candidate running in PP-158, as well as dozens of other party leaders and workers.
A mobile phone video of a police team going to the house of PTI leader Musarat Cheema at around 1:30 am on Monday went viral on social media.
The now-viral video shows police vans stationed outside her house and deployed force asking the family to assure that no family members, including children, would participate in anti-police street protests. The family claims that the police abused their authority by raiding their home in the middle of the night while the family members were sleeping.
According to reports, police detained Cheema’s employees after they were unable to locate her at home. She was not at her residence at the time of the raid.
A large police force raided the home of PTI leader Bajash Khan Niazi, who owns the city’s leading private transportation company.
In a video posted on his social media account, Bajash Niazi stated that the police raided and shut down his company’s office at 2 am. He also said that the company’s workshop and his brother Hammad Niazi’s office were raided and forcibly closed. He claimed that police raided not only his house but also his brother’s to intimidate them for supporting Imran Khan.
However, the police were unable to arrest him, his cousins, and other party members.
Bajash Niazi claimed in a media statement that the police committed brutality by targeting him, his relatives, and his business.
He claimed that he had submitted nomination papers for the PTI party’s PP-146 constituency two days prior and that the police were threatening to shut down his business if he continued to contest elections, according to Dawn.
According to reports, the police detained Jamaat-i-Islami leader Abdul Qayyum, a candidate for election in PP-166, Lahore.
Qaisar Sharif, a Jamaat-e-Islami spokesperson, confirmed Abdul Qayyum’s arrest, alleging that the police were conducting raids and harassing Jamaat workers.
The police also raided the Baghbanpura house of Mian Tariq, the office-bearer of the PTI’s ‘Tiger Force,’ to arrest him. Tariq was not present during the raid, according to sources cited by Dawn. Later, he said in a media statement that the police blatantly broke the law by scaling the boundary walls of his house to break into it. He accused the police of harassing his family’s women.
Raids were also carried out early on Monday at the homes of Khawaja Riaz Mahmood and his son Khawaja Salman in Gowalmandi.
Asif Jutt, the son of PTI worker Jamshed Jutt, was reportedly arrested from his home in Nishat Colony, Dawn reported. (ANI)
The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)-led ruling alliance held a six-hour-long huddle with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in the chair….reports Asian Lite News
Pakistan’s ruling coalition has hinted at banning Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), as the government claims that the party has become a terrorist outfit after its involvement in attacking state institutions, including the army, judiciary, and law-enforcement agencies.
The coalition government condemned the attacks carried out allegedly on the orders of Khan on police and Rangers, who were implementing court orders when they went to his Zaman Park residence in Lahore and when the former Prime Minister came along with his supporters to a court in Islamabad the other day, The Express Tribune reported.
The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)-led ruling alliance held a six-hour-long huddle with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in the chair.
The meeting was attended by leaders of the coalition parties and federal ministers.
An official statement issued following the meeting stated that a joint session of Parliament had been called on March 22 for taking important decisions to ensure the writ of the state.
The meeting also strongly condemned a social media campaign being run from abroad against the state institutions, especially against Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Gen Asim Munir, and asked the overseas Pakistanis not to be a part of this “sinister agenda”, The Express Tribune reported.
The condemnation come hours after Prime Minister Sharif, in a tweet, accused his predecessor of “damaging the country and undermining our armed forces and their leadership” and stressed the need for rejecting his political rival’s “agenda”, The Express Tribune reported.
“PTI’s disgusting smear campaign against Chief of the Army Staff General Asim Munir at the behest of Imran Niazi is deserving of the strongest condemnation,” Sharif tweeted.
The alliance leaders expressed concerns over the treatment meted out to the PTI chairman by the courts, saying: “The treatment of Imran Khan and his colleagues is deepening the impression that the scales of justice are not equal.”
The official statement declared that “two standards of justice in one country are not acceptable”.
Will former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan go to jail after Fawad Chaudhry’s dramatic arrest? – writes Rana Banerji
A clear message has been conveyed to former Prime Minister Imran Khan with the dramatic arrest of Pakistan Tehreek-e- Insaf (PTI)’s former Information Minister, Fawad Chaudhry earlier this week. The arrest was made from outside his Lahore house in the early hours of Wednesday, January 25 by a posse from Kohsar Police Station, Islamabad represented a sharp rap on the knuckles of former Prime Minister, Imran Khan.
It signifies that with the PTI- Pakistan Muslim League (Q) coalition government of former Chief Minister Pervez Elahi dissolved in Punjab, and the Caretaker regime under Syed Mohsin Naqvi firmly in the saddle, outspoken PTI leaders would no longer have leeway to keep lambasting the ruling Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) government at the Centre or senior government officials discharging their official duties.
52-year-old Fawad Chaudhry hails from a prominent political family from Dina, Jhelum district with old moorings in the Pakistan Muslim League. His uncle, Chaudhry Iftikhar Hussain served as Chief Justice of the Lahore High Court from 2002 to 2007. Himself a lawyer, Fawad had developed typical political ambitions during a career which saw him peregrinating from various ruling dispensations in quest of perks of office.
Starting from contesting the Member Provincial Assembly seat from Dina (MP-25) as an independent candidate, he joined the All-Pakistan Muslim League floated by sycophants of former President Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf in 2011. He then moved to the People’s Party of Pakistan in January, 2012 and was inducted as Special Assistant to Prime Minister, Yousaf Raza Gilani for Information. In 2016, he contested the National Assembly NA-63 seat from Jhelum on a Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid-e Azam) party ticket but lost.
Fawad Chaudhry. (Photo: Twitter/@fawadchaudhry)
In 2018, he joined the PTI and won from both the NA -67 Jhelum National Assembly and the Punjab Provincial Assembly seat PP-27 Jhelum, becoming in the process an articulate loyalist of emerging Prime Ministerial aspirant, Imran Khan and even an aspirant for the post of CM Punjab.
Possessing the gift of the gab, he supplicated Imran in earnest, holding the prestigious Information Ministry at the Centre briefly (Aug 2018) before being shafted, for a temporary gaffe, to the less important Ministry of Science and Technology (April, 2019). He made a comeback, however, to the Information Ministry (April, 2021). Especially after Imran’ ouster from power in April, 2022, Fawad Chaudhry came to the forefront echoing his master’s vituperations against Federal Government Ministers, officials and even Army Generals.
In recent times, as cases for violation of rules in the Toshakhana (false declaration/concealment of assets) and illegal foreign funding were taken up in the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), making Imran’s disqualification and possible arrest imminent, both Imran and Fawad Chaudhry had become very offensive in their criticism of the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) of Pakistan, Sikandar Sultan Raja and his team of officials. Raja is a former bureaucrat appointed, ironically enough, by Imran Khan himself when he was Prime Minister.
According to the FIR filed by a senior ECP office Chaudhry called the ECP a ‘munshi’ and threatened the CEC, ECP members and their families that they will pay back in kind (read ‘violence’) if anything ‘unjust’ happened to the PTI.
On his way to National Assembly, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif stops by D-Chowk to appreciate the efforts of Police, Rangers, Administration and other law enforcing agencies. (Photo: Twitter@PakPMO)
The charges in the FIR against Fawad Chaudhry include Section 124-A (sedition), 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups, etc.), 505 (statements conducive to public mischief) and 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation).
Chaudhry’s arrest on Jan 25 morning was likened, by his wife, Hiba to a ‘kidnapping’.
Another PTI politician, Farrukh Habib tried to jump before the police cars whisking him away.
The Islamabad Police took transit remand from a Lahore judicial magistrate before taking him away. Despite this, PTI supporters moved a habeas corpus petition before the Court of Justice Tariq Saleem of the Lahore High Court (LHC).
It may be noted in this context, that recent judgements of the LHC were perceived to be one-sided and partial to the PTI.
Predictably, Justice Saleem demanded immediate return and production before him of Fawad Chaudhry.
He summoned the newly appointed Inspector General of Police, Punjab, Usman Anwar as well as the IGP, Islamabad to appear before him in person by 6 p.m. the same evening.
However, after a quick medical examination and production of Fawad Chaudhry in the court of Islamabad judicial magistrate, Naveed Khan on January 25 afternoon, the case petered out.
IGP, Punjab, Dr Anwar appeared before Justice Saleem, explaining that the Punjab Police no longer had jurisdiction. Thereafter, the habeas corpus petition was dismissed.
After an initial 2-day police remand, Fawad Chaudhry has been given 12-days’ judicial remand by Judge Raja Waqas Ahmed and lodged in Adiala Jail, Rawalpindi.
After Chaudhry’s arrest, Imran Khan held a press conference alleging this was an attempt to silence him and scuttle his election agenda.
He also asked President Arif Alvi to help. The latter came down to Lahore, this time staying only at the Governor’s house but apparently explained his limitations in this regard.
Fawad Chaudhry resorted to bravado during his arrest, claiming to have been victimized like Nelson Mandela, but later toned down his defiance by stating during court deposition that as party spokesperson, he was opining what was the party’s policy, not his personal opinion.
Media personnel in Pakistan criticised his arrest as an attempt to muzzle freedom of opinion.
The Supreme Court Bar Association also took up cudgels on his behalf.
However, protests on the streets of Lahore and Islamabad, called for by Imran Khan’s supporters fizzled out.
The perception predominantly prevails in Pakistani public opinion now that Chaudhry is paying for the wild oats he sowed in his recent attacks on Army Generals by name and he is likely to cool his heels in custody for a while.
The message has clearly been conveyed to Imran Khan by the new military establishment that he better behave in a more civil manner, eschew unparliamentary language and curtail frequent press appearances to sustain his narrative of unfair ouster and conspiracy, which has started to wear thin.
(Rana Banerji was Special Secretary (Retd.) in the Cabinet Secretariat. Views expressed are personal and exclusive to India Narrative)
(The content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com)
How Imran Khan and Pervaiz Elahi have politically outsmarted Nawaz and his party’s calculations came as a bitter surprise for the Leaguers.
After having received serious political blows, one after the other, from Imran Khan in Punjab province during the last two consecutive days, the PML-N London is considering coming back to Pakistan before it is too late, the media reported.
For some in the party, it is already too late and now there is not much that can be done because of the irreparable political cost that the PML-N has to pay because of its early last year decision of removing the Imran Khan government and coming into power, The News reported.
For the bad luck of the N-League, Shehbaz Sharif-led PDM government is also not performing and the issues like worsening economic conditions and price hike are contributing to further unpopularity of the party.
“We had thought that through our good governance and economic turnaround, the PMLN would get its popularity back but that is happening mainly because of growing financial challenges and price hike,” a senior PMLN leader said.
Imran Khan at PTI Azadi March (Twitter)
The party sources admit that ever since the removal of the Imran Khan government, the popularity of the PML-N is on decline whereas PTI is going up and up, The News reported.
The last two days, it is said, were shocking for the PML-N and its top leadership.
How Imran Khan and Pervaiz Elahi have politically outsmarted Nawaz and his party’s calculations came as a bitter surprise for the Leaguers.
Nawaz and Maryam, both of whom are in London, were assured that neither Pervaiz Elahi has a majority to get a vote of confidence nor there is any chance of the provincial assembly’s dissolution.
To their utter disappointment, Imran Khan succeeded on both counts.
While the PML-N top leadership in London was not over with the shock of a successful vote of confidence by Pervaiz Elahi, it got another shock the very next day when the latter signed the advice for the dissolution of the Punjab Assembly.
According to a report following the Wednesday night events, Nawaz had reportedly conveyed his anger to the party’s Punjab leadership and had directed it to ensure the Punjab Assembly is not dissolved. It could not be prevented either.
Maryam Nawaz was already planning to come back mid-February but after the PML-N having been seriously jolted by Imran Khan’s moves in Punjab, the London leadership is reconsidering their plan.
Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz Sharif (Photo Courtesy Twitter@MaryamNSharif)
Now besides Maryam, there is also consideration about the timing of Nawaz Sharif’s return. In case of election date for Punjab, it is said, both may hurriedly rush to Pakistan, The News reported.
Imran Khan’s politics, supported by the failures of the PDM government in Islamabad, it is admitted, has considerably shrunk the political space for the PML-N in Punjab, which has been the party’s stronghold for the last few decades.
“Expecting from Shehbaz Sharif government and the PML-N’s second tier leadership to create space for the top London leadership to come and make the party popular like before is a faulty policy,” a PML-N leader said.
He added that the leadership does not wait for the space to be created by others but it through its own charisma and political moves wins the hearts and minds of the people. For this, it is said, the London leadership has to come to Pakistan.
The PML-N source said that now there is no hurdle in the return of Nawaz Sharif, The News reported.
Seeking the attention of army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa, the former Prime Minister said ISI chief and other intelligence officers were tarnishing the image of the institution.
Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has kicked off his much-awaited ‘Haqeeqi Azadi’ march towards Islamabad with a no-holds-barred speech targeting the countrys premier spy chief and other intelligence officers.
Addressing from atop a container at the starting point of the march, the Liberty Roundabout, Khan incriminated the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) director general (DG) for holding a “political presser”, and called out two other army officers for playing the role of “Dirty Harry” for picking up and torturing a party senator, Dawn news reported.
Seeking the attention of army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa, the former Prime Minister said these officers were tarnishing the image of the institution.
On Thursday, in an unprecedented appearance at a media conference by a spy chief, ISI chief Lt Gen Nadeem Anjum spoke alongside armed forces’ spokesman Lt Gen Babar Iftikhar.
(Photo Twitter_screengrab)
The officers alleged their leadership was being maligned for refusing to help the former premier through “illegal and extra-constitutional means” ahead of a confidence vote in parliament earlier this year and that Khan attempted to entice the army chief with an “indefinite extension” in a last-ditch attempt to save his government, Dawn reported.
Khan began his speech on Friday by castigating the ISI DG for claiming his organisation was apolitical and neutral.
He said the spy chief actually delivered a “political presser” and conveniently ignored any reference to the “group of thieves” that got its Rs1.1 trillion theft written off.
“I haven’t even heard (former interior minister) Sheikh Rashid conducting such a candid political news conference,” he quipped.
The former premier warned Gen Anjum that he also held many secrets, but was staying mum for the interests of the country and state institutions, Dawn reported.
(Photo Twitter@Hammad_Azhar)
“I am not like the absconder Nawaz Sharif that I will run away to London and then spew venom against the army,” he remarked, maintaining he had always done constructive criticism against the army and other state institutions because he wanted to see Pakistan an independent and sovereign state.
He also took on ISI DG-C Maj Gen Faisal Naseer and Islamabad Sector Commander Faheem Raza for allegedly picking up the party’s septuagenarian senator, Azam Swati, and torturing him.
The former premier further accused the officers of torturing party leader Dr Shahbaz Gill and journalist Jameel Farooqi.
Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) issued the second notice to Imran Khan on Friday.
Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has decided to arrest former Prime Minister Imran Khan if he fails to appear before the investigation committee or respond to the notices concerning the prohibited funding case, according to sources.
The agency will get permission from a court of law to arrest Khan to get details of the party funds and accounts, The News reported.
“The final decision to arrest the PTI chief could be taken after issuing three notices,” the sources maintained.
The FIA issued the second notice to Khan on Friday.
The former premier received the first notice on August 10 but refused to appear before the FIA investigation team to provide details of the party funds and accounts, The News reported.
The sources disclosed that five more PTI companies had been traced which were not mentioned in the reports submitted to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and FBR.
These companies are operating in the US, Australia, Canada, the UK and Belgium, they said, adding that the FIA had collected their audit reports, The News reported.
The FIA Banking Circle has repeatedly asked the PTI chief to provide details of the bank accounts but Khan, responding through his legal counsel, said he was neither answerable to the FIA nor could it compel him to provide any information, the sources said.
They added that the PTI chief had threatened the FIA with taking a legal action if the notice was not withdrawn within two days.
“The FIA committee has collected enough evidences to prove Imran guilty of hiding the factual position from the ECP,” the sources said, adding that the third and probably the final notice would be issued next week well before the end of August.
