Islamabad: Describing jailed former prime minister Imran Khan as the “darling of the courts”, Pakistan’s caretaker Home Minister Sarfaraz Bugti said the facilities provided to him in the prison were more than those available to an ordinary prisoner or even any former premier who spent time in jail.
In a special conversation with the Independent Urdu newspaper, Bugti Thursday said that a common citizen could not even imagine the facilities the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman got in jail.
The 71-year-old cricketer-turned-politician is currently detained in Adiala jail in Rawalpindi after being arrested in the leakage of the cipher (secret diplomatic cable) case.
In the cipher case, Khan and his former Minister of Foreign Affairs Shah Mahmood Qureshi are accused of violating the secrecy laws of the country.
“The facilities provided to him (Imran) are more than those provided to an ordinary prisoner or a prime minister behind bars as he is, after all, a laadla (darling) of the courts. The kind of facilities being provided to him in jail, they weren’t given to any prime minister, and a common citizen cannot even imagine them,” the minister said.
Recalling Khan’s arrest May 9, Bugti said directives were issued “within two minutes” to take the PTI chief to Islamabad Police Lines in a Mercedes.
He also mentioned former chief justice Umar Ata Bandial saying “Good to see you” when the former premier was brought before him after his arrest.
“Things like the phrase “is (good) to see” strengthen my argument. We are in dire need of judicial reforms here. There are problems with the judiciary which everyone knows,” Bugti said.
Bandial made these remarks during Khan’s appearance before the Supreme Court after his arrest in the Al-Qadir Trust corruption case sparked violent protests by his supporters May 9.
Bandial later clarified that it was part of court etiquette and carried no political connotation.
When asked about Khan’s appearance in the court November 28 in the cipher case, Bugti said he would accept the court’s order.
Bugti, on a question regarding the legal issues after the return of Nawaz Sharif — the former prime minister and leader of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) — said that in his opinion, the cases against the three-time premier were mostly baseless.
On a question regarding a level playing field in general elections, he said no favour was being given to PML-N.
The minister said that his ministry has assured the Election Commission of all support.
On the matter of deporting undocumented immigrants, Bugti said they were being sent back to their home country due to the lack of peace in Pakistan.
“This country is for Pakistanis; Pakistanis will live in it. Foreigners who want to live here should come in a legal manner. We will welcome them. If someone comes under a veil or by leaping over a wall, then we cannot give them the status of a guest,” he said.
Bugti stated that around 300,000 illegal immigrants have returned to their home country so far, of which more than 99 per cent are Afghan nationals.
The interior minister said there was no doubt that “hostile agencies” were exploiting the fault lines of Pakistan through violence.
“There is an attempt to increase fault lines,” he said.
Responding to a question about caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar being summoned by the Islamabad High Court in a case pertaining to missing persons, he said it was “not appropriate if the court began summoning the premier on every other minor issue”.
The court has summoned Kakar to appear before it November 29 in a case involving 55 missing students from the restive Balochistan province.
The senator claimed that the number of missing persons in Pakistan was the “lowest in the region” and said it had become a “propaganda tactic against the country”.
Bugti also said that 78 per cent of the cases mentioned in the lists provided to him had been resolved.
PTI