Lahore: In a veiled jibe at Pakistan’s powerful military establishment, former prime minister Imran Khan has advised “those in power” to shift their focus from “political engineering” to curb the rising wave of terrorism in the country.
Khan’s statement came a day after Pakistan’s restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province bordering Afghanistan saw a major terror attack in which at least 54 people were killed and more than 100 others were injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up at a political meeting of the hardline Islamic party — Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) — in Khar, the capital of Bajaur tribal district.
In a condolence message to the family members of those killed in the attack, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman in a tweet Sunday said, “The rise in terror incidents across Pakistan particularly in KP, calls for an urgent need to reconsider our priorities.”
“Those in power must shift their focus from political engineering to directing State’s efforts & resources towards countering terrorism,” he wrote.
Pakistan cannot afford another wave of terrorism, Khan said.
Police Monday said that an initial probe has suggested that the banned terrorist group ISIS is behind the suicide attack.
The powerful Pakistan Army, which has ruled the coup-prone country for more than half of its 73-plus years of existence, has hitherto wielded considerable power in the country’s politics as well as matters of security and foreign policy.
Later, in his address to the nation Sunday night, Khan said those in power had only one thing on their mind — how to prevent him and his party from returning to power in the upcoming general elections.
And for this, the government and the military establishment are using all their resources, the 70-year-old cricketer-turned-politician claimed.
“They should think of the country and the people instead of consuming their energies to contain the PTI,” Khan said.
The PTI chief also said the way the Shehbaz Sharif-led government unleashed atrocities on his party’s women workers is shameful.
“The PTI women have been in jail for over 80 days on the allegations of so-called attack on military installations. In which society this happens. It was a peaceful protest,” he said.
He claimed that the military and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz-led coalition government have planned to keep women of Pakistan out of politics “because they saw women coming out in support of PTI and planned to instil fear among them to keep them out of politics. Such atrocities had never been witnessed against women in Pakistan.”
Pakistan saw massive nationwide anti-government protests following the arrest of Khan by paramilitary Rangers in a corruption case May 9. Khan was later released on bail.
Dozens of military installations and government buildings, including the military headquarters in Rawalpindi, were damaged or torched during the riots. Over 100 vehicles of police and other security agencies were set on fire.
Following the violent protests, law enforcement agencies arrested over 10,000 PTI workers across Pakistan, 4,000 of them from Punjab province only.
According to Khan, over 16 PTI workers were killed in the violence. Police have put the death toll to 10.
In his address, Khan urged the people not to fear the fascist tactics of those in power and break the idol of fear.
“I am facing over 180 cases and go to court daily for bail hearings.
I am not going to surrender to them come what…And I want my nation to do the same,” he said.
Khan is facing numerous cases related to attacks on military installations. Currently, he is facing many cases related to terrorism, murder, and blasphemy. He is reportedly under virtual house arrest at his private residence at Zaman Park in Lahore.
Khan regretted that the Supreme Court couldn’t establish its writ in the polls’ case. “In fact, the apex court allowed the government to break the law. Now the government is openly saying it will not accept the decision of the Supreme Court in the Army Act case,” he rued. The PTI has challenged the trial of its workers under the Army Act (for allegedly attacking military installations).
The former prime minister said the ex-army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa had ended accountability in the country because he had a deal with former premier and PML-N supreme leader Nawaz Sharif. “This one decision brought destruction to the people of Pakistan,” Khan said.
Khan was ousted from power in April last year after losing a no-confidence vote in his leadership, which he alleged was part of a US-led conspiracy targeting him because of his independent foreign policy decisions on Russia, China, and Afghanistan. The US has repeatedly dismissed his allegations.
PTI