ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) secretary general Asad Umar on Tuesday said whoever succeeds the outgoing army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa will have a huge responsibility to steer the country out of the prevailing crisis and put on the track envisioned by its founders.
“He [the new army chief] will have this big responsibility that in an evolutionary process, how to take the country to the next phase so that it is put on the path to becoming the Pakistan envisioned by Allama Iqbal and for which Quaid-e-Azam struggled,” he told reporters.
To a question whether the party planned to stage a protest or sit-in in the garrison city on November 26, he said that the next plan of action would be shared by PTI chief Imran Khan on November 26.
“If Khan sahib asks us to make people stay there, there will be arrangements for that as well, and the decision will be taken on Nov 26,” he added.
Umar said that there will be extraordinary security arrangements in Rawalpindi for party chief Imran Khan, which will be unlike those of the past PTI rallies.
About the extent of the security measures planned considering the possible threat to Imran’s life, he said: “With regard to security you are absolutely right, we had apprehensions before – which turned out to be true – we were getting reports that Khan’s life is in danger and you saw how the attempt on Khan’s life was carried out in an organised manner, but life and death are in God’s hands”.
“However, there will be very special security arrangements, which will be unlike those of past PTI rallies, he said, adding, “It took a lot to convince Khan sahib, you know he’s a brave man, and he doesn’t want anything between the people and himself.”
“On that day when Khan reaches Pindi, there will be proper security arrangements,” he maintained.
Meanwhile, in a tweet, senior PTI leader Shafqat Mahmood said the real challenge for the new army chief was to make the institution “actually apolitical”.
“Finish any role of the Inter-Services Intelligence in politics,” he said. He also called for holding people accountable, naming a senior military official party chief Imran Khan has held responsible for the attempt on his life.
Meanwhile, the PTI senators led by the opposition leader in the Senate Shahzad Waseem marched from Parliament House to the Supreme Court demanding justice for Azam Swati after he claimed torture in police custody.
Holding placards, the senators demanded registration of FIRs against those involved in torturing Swati, as the senator has already named an FIA official along with a senior spy agency official for stripping him naked after taking him into custody when he shot a tweet against the army chief.
The lawmakers said that they would continue their protest as long as the FIRs were not registered.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022