ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister (PM) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan, Wednesday, while criticizing the ouster of his government said that he had never thought about appointing an army chief of his choice.
While addressing a seminar, “Regime Change Conspiracy and Pakistan’s Destabilization” here, he further said that he had never thought that someone like Shehbaz Sharif would be made the prime minister of Pakistan.
“They were afraid that I wanted to appoint Lt Gen Faiz. They feared that if that would have happened then it would shatter their future,” the PTI chairman said while hitting out at the government during the seminar.
The ousted prime minister said the incumbent rulers are “afraid of the army and the Inter-Services Intelligence” as they know that their “corruption” will be caught at some point.
“Imran Khan does not want to save his corruption, he does not want to appoint his army chief,” said the PTI leader. Khan said that the incumbent rulers claim that he wanted to appoint an army chief of his choice.
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The PTI chairman alleged that media was heavily bribed before the regime change, adding that he was called “Taliban Khan” and the whole media bashed him for opposing war. He said that a year ago, he came to know about the conspiracy of regime change in Pakistan but never thought Shehbaz Sharif will be made the prime minister of Pakistan as he along with his son Hamza Shehbaz were wanted in serious financial crimes by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).
Imran Khan said that Rs16 billion financial money laundering case was in the NAB courts against PM Shehbaz and Rs8 billion cases against Hamza.
He added that sending the military to the tribal areas was a blunder; tribal areas were the area where the British suffered most life losses. Anyone who spoke against the actions was termed a terrorist, he added
While quoting an ex-army general that the US intentionally sabotaged our peace accord with the Taliban, “We are paying you to fight, not to have peace accords,” Imran Khan while quoting the remarks of a senior American official said at Pakistan’s peace accord.
Imran Khan said the US never appreciated Pakistan for its cooperation in the war against terror. “Me saying “Absolutely Not” was in the interest of my people. I am not anti-American, I want to have good relations with the US, but I cannot let them use us like tissue paper. The US wants us to recognise Israel and not talk about Kashmir, so that India is strengthened, to curtail China’s power”, Imran Khan said. He said that except for some years under Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s rule, we have always been at the service to the Americans.
“Pakistan was devastated in the war on terror with bomb blasts”, he said and added the head of our country was threatened over not participating in the war on terror. “I know tribal areas more than anyone else does and there was complete peace in tribal areas before the war on terror.” He said that Pakistan faced $150 billion in financial losses in the so-called war on terrorism but in return, the US paid just $20 billion dollars to Pakistan. Moreover, US citizen Raymond Davis murdered four people in broad daylight and the US managed to free him and he was never punished in the States either.
He said that he had told 11 years ago that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) will join hands in case Imran Khan becomes the prime minister, saying that their only purpose is to protect themselves from accountability.
Reacting to the recent statement of Federal Minister Khurram Dastagir, Imran Khan said that he had never thought about appointing an army chief of his choice, adding that he had never compromised on merit throughout his life. He said he was never against the US and India as bilateral relations among the countries are critical, but it does not mean one country should compromise on national integrity and dignity. The PTI chairman said that the US wanted Pakistan to establish ties with Israel and accept Indian dominance in South Asia, but his government did not compromise on matters of national dignity.
Taking a jibe at the rulers, the former PM said that he started his struggle against them 26 years ago, adding that he had told 26 years ago that former PM and PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif and former president and PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari are plunderers.
The PTI chairman went on to say that Nawaz Sharif and Asif Zardari only level allegations against each other during election days, adding that he had no doubt that they would join hands when he would come to power.
“They toppled my government out of the fear that I would appoint General Faiz Hameed as the new army chief,” he maintained. He said that when robbers are attacking a house, the security guards cannot remain neutral.
Imran Khan maintained that the US does not do regime change for the betterment of the country but for their own benefits. He asked if it was in Pakistan’s interest to allow the US to have a base in the country.
The PTI chairman berated the incumbent rulers for allegedly “murdering the institutions” and appointing “their people” to every institution. Talking about the “regime change conspiracy”, Khan said that the US does not change regimes for a country’s betterment. It only does that for its interests, not ours, he added.
Khan said US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Donald Lu “arrogantly threatened” Pakistan, so can a “sovereign nation” accept such threats. The PTI chief said the measures being taken today will lead the country toward destruction as a “circus” is going on in Punjab and the judiciary now had immense responsibility.
Talking to the participants of the seminar, former finance minister Shaukat Tarin said the government was formed not for providing relief to the people, but to get the rulers “freedom from NAB (National Accountability Bureau).”
In a scathing attack on the government, Tarin said it is so “incompetent” that later this month, a mini-budget is expected after it reaches an agreement with the International Monetary Fund. The former finance minister said there are rumours of a further Rs50 per litre hike in the price of petrol, which will exacerbate the burden on the masses — who are already getting the commodity at Rs234.
In his address to the seminar, PTI Senior Vice President Fawad Chaudhry said Energy Minister Khurram Dastagir has admitted in a television programme that the coalition government came into power to end their cases. The former information minister said the government used 22 members of the National Assembly (MNAs) belonging to the PTI to come into power, as he claimed that the then-opposition did not have the numbers to oust Khan.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
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