LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has demanded a high-powered inquiry on the Wazirabad attack under the supervision of Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial, saying that “there was no hope of getting justice”.
While addressing a press conference through a video link on Thursday, the former prime minister recalled that he had earlier stated that justice can come from only one place (Supreme Court), as powerful people will not allow the investigation (into the Wazirabad attack) to take place.
He hinted at the involvement of establishment in his attack, saying that although it was a top institution that serves its country, it was baffling how it got involved in the assassination plot, adding that there are ‘black sheep’ in every institution. “The institution is supposed to be the protector and without their support, the attack could not have been possible,” he added.
Khan implicated Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Federal Interior Minister in the assassination plot, but he stated that without ‘their’ support these people would not have dared to attack him.
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He also castigated the Punjab Police and Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) for not cooperating with the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) which was constituted to probe the Wazirabad attack; “who were the people creating hurdles in the investigation?” he questioned.
He added that ‘powerful quarters’ moved to obstruct investigations in the aftermath of attack, including the hasty release of suspect’s recorded statement and preventing him from registering an FIR with the names he believed were behind the attack. However, the Punjab Police, which comes under his government, denied him that right. The JIT findings have proven that my statements were true; it was a planned assassination attempt and others were also involved in the attack,” he added. He demanded that all should come forward and cooperate with the JIT. “Some people were intentionally obstructing justice,” he claimed.
He threw his weight behind the findings of the JIT, reiterating that it was a proof that the plot to murder him was put into motion in August 2022 after a narrative was created that he had made some blasphemous statements. “I was aware of the conspiracy in advance and I had disclosed this in my two rallies,” he added.
“People from inside the agencies had already informed me about the plot to assassinate me,” he said, adding that the plan was to have him executed like slain Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer.
He accused four individuals, without naming them, of plotting his murder, adding that a narrative of a religious fanatic was created to misdirect investigations. “These four people knew that his assassination without a narrative would have exposed them and thus they tried to give the assassination attempt a religious colour,” he added.
He further said that one of the attackers with a handgun was naturalised by the people near the crime spot while another one had fired from the rooftop of a nearby building from where the police recovered bullet shells. “The third attacker was somewhere else,” he added. He defended his security guard, noting that he acted heroically to protect them.
The PTI chief claimed that contrary to claims that suspect Naveed (caught at the site of the crime) acted alone and was not trained, he was a trained assassin and knew how to use a pistol. “The suspect claimed he was working alone, but he was programmed to say this and thus give credit to the narrative of ‘religiously motivated attack’. The police quickly recorded the video statement of the suspect and disseminated it among the journalists and television channels working against the PTI. Naveed was not a random religious fanatic, rather he was a trained shooter,” he claimed.
Outlining the conspiracy to kill him, Khan claimed that journalists (who oppose him) had already posted the statement of the suspect on social media even before he reached the hospital.
“The plot started on August 24 when Waqar Satti, a journalist, posted a craftily created video to malign me and accuse me of alleged blasphemy. On September 14, Javed Latif held a press conference to highlight the video and subsequently, Federal Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah held a press conference the same day on the same topic. Later, PML-N leaders Maryam Nawaz and Khawaja Asif amplified the blasphemy issue in their separate press conferences on September 15 and October 10, respectively,” he added.
He pointed out that none of these people had anything to do with religion yet here they were pointing fingers at him. He went on to question why the CTD recorded and released the video statement of suspect Naveed; was it to strengthen the narrative behind the attack? “Why did they (the people involved in the recording of the video) have to change the background of the interview? It was evident that someone was trying to cover their tracks,” he added.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023