PDM trying to pit PTI against army: Imran

Reveals’ plan of his assassination at Judicial Complex n PTI wants polls not anarchy n Urges CJP to permit him to attend court hearings via video link n PTI denies running any campaign against army chief.

LAHORE/ISLAMABAD     –   Lashing out at the PDM, PTI Chairman Imran Khan said on Monday that looters were try­ing to pitch the PTI and armed forces against each other in an at­tempt to eliminate his party, which he said, they could not defeat in the elections.

“Efforts are being made to make PTI and the army come face to face. PDM is trying hard to incite a quarrel be­tween the PTI and the army as these people cannot win the elections so they want to elim­inate the PTI,” he told his supporters through a televised press con­ference from his Zaman Park residence here.

“They were creating polarisation in the soci­ety,” he said.

“I want to tell all PTI that no matter what the provocation, we must protest peacefully and within the bounds of the Constitution. Otherwise, we will give these fas­cists reason for more vi­olence,” he directed his workers and supporters.

“I want to make it clear that this country is mine and so is the army and the crooks would not succeed in their ne­farious designs. I have to live and die in Paki­stan,” he asserted. Im­ran said despite death threats he was appear­ing before courts as he was only concerned about the country and not afraid of death.

Imran Khan said that these crooks had noth­ing to do with the in­terest of the state be­cause they had no stake here as they stationed all their looted wealth abroad and would not hesitate to spread an­archy in the country to protect their vested po­litical interest. 

Imran claimed that there was a plan to as­sassinate him at the Federal Judicial Com­plex (FJC) on his arriv­al to attend a hearing in the Toshakhana case on Saturday last. 

“Some unknown men clad in plain shalwar kameez were stationed there to execute the plot. I almost walked into a death trap in the Judicial Complex, but Almighty Allah saved me in the nick of time” he said. 

The PTI Chairman said that the manner in which police resorted to tear­gas shelling and pelting stones at his convoy he feared that the unknown people present at the Judicial Complex would have killed him. Imran Khan said that his colleagues quick­ly came and signaled them to escape the premises because he understood this was a trap. He further stated that the pur­pose of the approximately 20 men was to carry out another attempt on his life in the fash­ion they did in Wazirabad, as the three to four guards pro­tecting him would have easily been pushed away.

“I passed through all the ob­stacles to appear before the court on Saturday, because I am a law-abiding citizen. Howev­er, seeing election results, their aim is to kill me,” he said.

The PTI chairman called on Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial to take no­tice as to what happened to him at the FJC. He said that it was a plan and a trap to kill him and everything would be crystal clear when the CJP probed these unknown people.

He went on to say that these thieves were scared of him be­cause it was evident the PTI would easily crush them when­ever the polls were held; hence they were hell-bent and used every kind of measure to some­how remove him from the po­litical arena. He requested CJP Bandial to permit him to attend court hearings via video link, as he was ready to answer for ev­ery single case, adding that the accused who attacked him was presented before the court via video link but he was forced to present before the court in per­son despite death threats. 

The PTI Chairman further asked the CJP to take notice of the police highhandedness, as they carried out crackdown and raids on the homes of party of­fice-bearers and workers, add­ing that the PTI only had hope from the judiciary. Imran Khan said that whenever he came out of the house, his life was under threat and more cases were filed against him. He asked the CJP to see all the cases against him and explain where he went wrong that even terrorism charges were levelled against him.

The PTI Chairman said what the imported government did to him had never happened in the history of the coun­try. “Their aim is to kill me by spreading chaos when I go out to appear before court. My life is in danger,” he said, add­ing that democracy was being killed and the constitution was being violated.

Imran Khan made it clear that even if he was imprisoned it wouldn’t affect the election re­sults because the thieves were badly exposed before the mass­es now. “We are collecting all ev­idence of the kind of violence they inflicted and will send them to international human rights organisations,” he said, adding that the European Union was being approached in this regard as well. Imran also directed the PTI’s overseas chapters to ap­proach their local politicians and alert them about the “human rights violations” in Pakistan.

He flayed the PDM govern­ment for calling his party work­ers terrorists, saying such al­legations would spread hatred and divide the nation, adding that PTI was the only feder­al party which could keep the country united.

The PTI Chairman went on to say that his political opponents were not concerned about the country’s issues and conspiring to eliminate him to protect their vested interests.

Coming down hard on Mohsin Naqvi, Imran Khan stated that he was appointed to the post not for holding elections but to banish his party.

He said the imported govern­ment was creating hurdles in connection with the environ­ment for the general elections despite the date drawing near, as the authorities were reluc­tant to allow them to hold jalsa at Minar-e-Pakistan.

Flaying Maryam Nawaz, Im­ran Khan said the ‘queen of li­ars’ acts her father is Nelson Mandela. He said that “Law of the jungle” prevailed in the country, as the ‘queen of liars’ was above the law and dictating the authorities. 

Imran Khan said that fascism was on the rise, as police raid­ed Musarat Cheema house and stayed there for two hours and even looted valuables from her homes as they did in his resi­dence in Zaman Park, adding that Hassan Khan Niazi was ar­rested even after securing bail. 

He said that Ali Amin Gan­dapur was attacked while en route to D I Khan and police blamed him like they blamed me for Zille Shah’s brutal killing. 

Meanwhile, the opposition Pa­kistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Monday denied running any smear campaign against Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Gen Syed Asim Munir. “PTI has neither carried out any camighn against Army Chief nor has any intention to do so,” said senior PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry in a statement. Chaudhdry denied the allegation and said that the PTI respect­ed the Army Chief and expected from him to play his role in nor­malising Pakistan politically. He said that COAS should help the Election Commission of Pakistan in holding elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) so that country’s political envi­ronment improves.

The PTI leader said that the re­marks of PM were solely aimed at creating a gulf between the people and the Army.

Article source: https://www.nation.com.pk/21-Mar-2023/pdm-trying-to-pit-pti-against-army-imran