Pakistan’s Islamabad – Imran Khan, a former prime minister, has requested that President Arif Alvi launch an investigation into a news conference staged by Pakistan’s potent intelligence service, which he has charged with planning the attack on him.
Khan mentioned the occasion hosted by Lieutenant General Nadeem Anjum, head of Inter-Services Intelligence, in a letter to the president last month (ISI).
Imran Khan requests that the Pakistani president look into the military
Khan, the leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, wrote: “How can two military administrators give a highly political press conference targeting the leader of the largest federal political party?”
Anjum was joined at the historic press conference on October 27 by Lieutenant General Babar Iftikhar, the head of the military’s Inter-Services Public Relations media division (ISPR).
Khan was released from the hospital on Sunday and is now recuperating at home in Lahore. He suffered a leg injury last week during a protest march in Wazirabad, Punjab’s easternmost province, during what appeared to be an assassination attempt.
He further requested that the president outline the role of ISPR in his letter, writing, “I am pleading with you to act now to end the misuse of power and abuses of our laws and constitutions.”
Khan hasn’t shown any proof to support his claims.
The military or the president, who serves as the supreme commander of the armed forces, have not yet responded to the letter.
In interviews with the media, the two military representatives discussed the murder of Pakistani journalist Arshad Sharif in Kenya and addressed accusations made by Khan against the military system.
The leader of the PTI has sought their dismissal after alleging that senior intelligence official Major General Faisal Naseer, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, and Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah were complicit in what he called the plot to kill him.
In his letter to the president, he reiterated the accusations.
Including a senator and his chief of staff, Khan has previously accused military personnel of torturing and harassing PTI employees.
The military labelled his claims “baseless and reckless” on Friday, adding that they are “inappropriate and uncalled for” to be made against senior army personnel.
Sharif requested that a commission be established to look into the incident by the nation’s highest court.
The premier declared on Saturday that “I don’t have the right to remain in office if there is any shred of proof found regarding my role in this matter.”
Khan, 70, was ousted by a no-confidence vote in the parliament in April.
He said that a US-led international plot conspired to get rid of him by working with Pakistan’s military establishment and his political enemies. Again, he offered no supporting details. These accusations have been refuted by US and Pakistani authorities.
Since his removal, he has been holding protests all throughout the country. In by-elections held in July and October, PTI won the election.
On October 28, the ex-cricketer-turned-politician began a lengthy march toward Islamabad with the intention of conducting general elections as soon as possible. The present National Assembly of Pakistan will adjourn in October 2023.
Khan declared that his party will pick up the long march again on Tuesday from Wazirabad in a video posted on social media on Sunday from the hospital. In the following days, he promised, he would take part in the march in Rawalpindi.
Musarrat Jamshed Cheema, a senior PTI leader, stated that Khan will deliver daily remarks as the party’s top leadership leads the march and follows the original path.
Every day at 4:30 p.m., Imran Khan will address the crowd, and every day’s rally will attempt to end before sundown, she said.
In “10 to 12 days,” said to Cheema, the party intends to wrap up the gathering in Islamabad.
“However, everything is contingent upon his health and recuperation. Naturally, we want him there as soon as we can,” she said.
