ISLAMABAD: Federal Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb said on Monday former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan’s criticism of the current army chief stemmed from the general’s refusal to “interfere in the democratic processes” of the country as per the ex-premier’s wishes.
Khan, who was ousted from the office of the prime minister in a parliamentary vote of no-confidence last April, has blamed the army, and its then army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa, of plotting with his political rivals, who now form the incumbent coalition government of PM Shehbaz Sharif, to remove him.
Khan came to power in a 2018 general election widely believed to have been rigged in his favor by the military — which both deny — but has since had a falling out with the army. He has said in recent interviews that his party’s relations with the army have not improved under the new army chief, Gen Asim Munir.
Last week, Khan, appearing to get bail in a graft case in which he was arrested, told reporters he did not have a problem with the army as an institution but only the army chief, who was “petrifed” the ex-premier would sack him if he returned to power.
“I doubt there is any sense in the army chief right now because he’s so petrified if I win the elections, I’ll de-notify him, he’s dismantling the future of this country to protect himself,” Khan said to reporters as the hearing recessed.
“You have a man up there who, in order to preserve himself, is dismantling our democracy, our constitution, fundamental rights, he’s basically dismantling the future of this country to protect himself. And I’ve assured him, I’ve said, ‘Look, I won’t remove you’. But there is some paranoia there.”
Responding to a question about Khan’s criticism of Gen Munir, the information minister said Khan had a history of supporting military generals but only when it suited him, giving the example of former army chief Gen Bajwa to whom Khan had given an extension in service and publicly praised, until the general refused to support him when an opposition alliance pushed through the parliamentary vote of no-confidence.
“Why is he calling out the chief of army staff? Because chief of army staff, current chief of army staff, is not willing to sit with Mr.Khan in the room and interfere in the democratic processes of the country,” Aurangzeb said in an interview to Aljazeera English.
Khan has also blamed an apparent assassination attempt on his life last year on the military, repeatedly naming serving intelligence official Maj. Gen. Faisal Naseer for plotting to kill him. Khan has also said Naseer was behind the murder of a pro-Khan TV anchor, Arshad Sharif, shot dead in Nairobi last year in what Kenyan police have called a case of “mistaken identity.”
Last week, the army formally released a statement against Khan, calling his remarks “highly irresponsible and baseless” and warning him of legal action if he continued his “propaganda.”
Khan’s arrest in a land fraud case last Tuesday, which the Supreme Court ruled “invalid and unlawful” after which the Islamabad High Court granted him two-week bail, sparked violent nationwide protests by his supporters.
They stormed military properties and establishments, set ablaze a state broadcaster building, smashed buses, ransacked a top army general’s house and attacked other assets, resulting in the army being deployed in multiple cities.
More than 2,800 arrests were made, while 152 police officers were injured, 74 police vehicles vandalized and set on fire, and 22 government buildings, including police stations and offices, were damaged, the police of Pakistan’s most populous province, Punjab, said.
At least eight people were killed in the violence, a spasm of unrest in a country that is facing economic crisis, with record inflation, anaemic growth and delayed IMF funding.
