- Says he had condemned May 9 events in front of then CJP Umar Atta Bandial
RAWALPINDI: Former prime minister and incarcerated Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder, Imran Khan on Wednesday said he was ready to face any inquiry into 2014 sit-in, saying all allegations levelled against him regarding the 2014 sit-in were false.
“I will be happy if I am presented before the inquiry committee. All the allegations leveled against me regarding the 2014 sit-in are false… the 2013 election was the election of ROs,” he remarked while interacting informally with the media at Adiala Jail on Wednesday.
The development comes day after the DG ISPR hinted at a judicial probe into the event.
At a press conference, DG Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Major General Ahmed Sharif said that there was no doubt that the PTI was behind the May 9 riots. However, he said that yet some people were demanding the judicial commission to probe the events of May 9. He said the army was ready for the formation of a judicial commission but added that such an inquiry should also cover the 2014 sit-in and other related events.
The DG ISPR denied the ‘narrative’ that May 9 was a ‘false flag operation’.
During Wednesday media interaction, Imran Khan also questioned the feasibility of negotiations with the federal government in light of former caretaker prime minister Anwarul Haq Kakar’s reference to Form-47.
Kakar, while having a heated exchange with PML-N leader Hanif Abbasi over wheat scandal, had reportedly hinted at dropping a bombshell regarding Form-47, insinuating that it “would leave the PML-N red-faced”.
Kakar hinted at possible tampering in Form-47 while speaking to Abbasi, a veiled reference to allegations also made by the opposition PTI, whose candidates allege rigging in the Feb 8 general elections.
However, Kakar later clarified that his remarks were taken out of context in the media, stating that he merely corrected Abbasi’s erroneous statements regarding the caretaker government’s handling of the wheat procurement.
During the media interaction, Khan further alleged that PML-N members had suggested no elections would occur and Nawaz Sharif would not return to the country until Justice Qazi Faiz Isa became the chief justice.
He criticised the electoral processes, asserting that elections for president, prime minister, Punjab chief minister, and Senate were fraudulent. He claimed that private conversations with PML-N members revealed their belief that elections and Sharif’s return hinged on Justice Qazi Faiz Isa’s appointment as chief justice.
Khan said that half of his family is in the army and half in the bureaucracy. “The army belongs to us, and we have no conflicts with it,” he remarked a day after the military’s top spokesperson came down hard on Khan and his party over the May 9 mayhem.
“I only came to know about the events of May 9 when I was presented in the Supreme Court… I condemned the events of May 9 in front of then chief justice Umar Atta Bandial,” he said.
“For God’s sake, don’t drag army into politics… we have never indulged in agitation in our 27-year history… we dissolved two governments [in Punjab and at Centre] for elections because our political party does not want chaos,” said the incarcerated leader.
