Pakistan’s former premier Imran Khan accuses Gen Bajwa of taking part in ‘double game’ towards his govt

Ex Pakistam PM Imran Khan’s remarks got here days after Moonis Elahi of Pakistan Muslim League- Quaid-e-Azam (PML-Q) mentioned in a TV interview that Bajwa requested him to vote for Khan on the no-confidence movement.

Former Pakistan PM Imran Khan. (Image AFP/File)

By Press Trust of India: Pakistan’s ousted prime minister Imran Khan has accused former military chief Gen (retd.) Qamar Javed Bajwa of taking part in a “double game” towards his authorities and mentioned that he dedicated a “big mistake” by extending the tenure of then army chief in 2019.

Khan, the chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf get together, made the feedback throughout an interview with a neighborhood TV channel on Saturday the place he additionally regretted that he put his belief within the then military chief Gen (retd.) Bajwa.

“I would believe in everything General Bajwa would tell me because our interests were the same… that we had to save the country,” said 70-year-old Khan, who was ousted from power through a no-confidence motion in April this year.

Khan also claimed that he received reports from Intelligence Bureau (IB) on “what games were being played against his government”.

He claimed that then military establishment was in contact with the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz supremo Nawaz Sharif to topple his government and the plot against him became clear following the removal of Lt Gen (retd.) Faiz Hameed as ISI chief in October 2021.

“Whenever I requested General Bajwa (about change of presidency), he would say it was not potential. He mentioned, ‘We want continuity’….I despatched finance minister Shaukat Tarin who briefed them (institution) for 2 hours in regards to the perils of the autumn of his government…He was additionally assured that don’t fear as a result of ‘we want continuity,’” Khan claimed.

Khan said the then army chief was cutting deals with the then opposition parties while assuring him of political support.

His remarks came days after Moonis Elahi of Pakistan Muslim League- Quaid-e-Azam (PML-Q) said in a TV interview that Bajwa asked him to vote for Khan on the no-confidence motion. His remarks were used by the government to blast Khan’s allegation that the establishment orchestrated his downfall.

But Khan, who is considered as an expert of using any situation in his favour, exploited the statement of Elahi and said it showed that General Bajwa was playing on both sides.

“Gen Bajwa was taking part in a double sport and I found later that even PTI’s members have been being given completely different messages,” he claimed.

Gen Bajwa, 61, retired on November 29 after getting a three-year extension in 2019 by the then Prime Minister Khan, who turned out to be the largest critic of the Pakistan Army.

Nawaz Sharif, who was disqualified and imprisoned when Bajwa was the military chief, has additionally criticized him by title at public rallies on a few events.

In his farewell handle final week, General Bajwa had mentioned that his determination to maintain the army institution “apolitical” will defend it from the “vagaries of politics” within the coup-prone nation.

Since Pakistan was created 75 years in the past, the Army has seized energy 3 times and straight dominated the nation for nearly 4 a long time.

In reply to a different query, Khan mentioned a brand new army set-up had emerged and he wished to provide a while to get themselves settled.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday lashed out at Khan for aiming to hunt energy even when it meant undermining the nation’s foundations.

“Imran’s recent diatribe against parliamentary democracy is the latest in a series of attacks that fly in the face of how democracy functions in modern nation-states,” the premier mentioned in a tweet.

Khan’s “politics is aimed at making his way to power even if it means undermining foundations this country stands on,” the prime minister mentioned.

During the interview to Bol News, Khan additionally mentioned that if the federal government is prepared for elections by the top of March, then his get together will not dissolve the assemblies. “Otherwise, we want to conduct polls by dissolving the KP and Punjab assemblies,” he added.

Khan, the previous cricketer-turned-politician, is the one Pakistani prime minister to be ousted in a no-confidence vote in Parliament.

He had alleged that the no-confidence vote was a part of a US-led conspiracy concentrating on him due to his impartial overseas coverage choices on Russia, China, and Afghanistan. The US has denied the allegations.

Published On:

Dec 4, 2022