I don’t want to hurt the army in any way: Imran Khan

Web Desk (LTN NEWS): Hours before marching toward Islamabad, PTI Chairman Imran Khan called the joint press conference held by Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director-General Lieutenant General Babar Iftikhar and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Director-General Lt Gen Nadeem Anjum “political.”

Imran Khan criticized the military leadership again in an interview with a private news channel. He said, “They held a press conference after saying they were staying out of politics.”

The press conference did not have anything to do with security. He said it was a political press conference, adding that the county would lose if he responded to it.

ایک طرف آپ کہتے ہیں ہمارا سیاست سے کوئی تعلق نہیں تو آپکو پریس کانفرنس کیوں کرنا پڑی-@ImranKhanPTI pic.twitter.com/9u4fkKWv6S

— PTI (@PTIofficial) October 27, 2022

Khan said that people who wanted to hurt us wanted our army to be weak. He also said he did not say anything about the establishment that would hurt the army.

“If I answer the press conference, it will be about the army, and I don’t want to hurt them in any way,” he said.

When asked about his party’s “Haqeeqi Azadi March,” which is set to start today, Khan said that his party would not go into Islamabad’s “Red Zone” during the protest and that the march would be peaceful.

Khan said of Faisal Vawda, “I have seen people up close. People who were close to me before the hard times are now on the other side.”

The leader of the PTI said he was sorry and that he knew who asked Vawda to hold a press conference.

In response to a question about the alleged torture and stripping of the elderly PTI leader Azam Khan Swati, Khan said that the actions brought shame to the country and the army.

مجھے پتا ہے فیصل واوڈا نے کس کے کہنے پر پریس کانفرنس کی ، اس نے Dirty Harry کی فرمائیش پر کیا ، عمران خان #حقیقی_آزادی_مارچ pic.twitter.com/mM6751sFMo

— PTI (@PTIofficial) October 27, 2022

When it came to changing the government, the PTI leader said that he had already heard about the plot and knew about it.

Read DG ISPR and DG ISI hold an unexpected press conference

“I told [Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed] Bajwa that if the plot works, the economy will suffer,” he said.

“They could have stopped the plot, but they didn’t,” said the PTI leader.

Khan made fun of the ruling coalition by saying, “[Finance Minister] Ishaq Dar signed an affidavit saying he helped the Sharif family launder money, but nothing happened.”

He went on to say that, in his case, the ruling lawmakers filed another case against him even though he got relief from one case.

Khan said about the death of journalist Arshad Sharif that the threats should be asked of Sharif’s mother.

“They are asking Sharif’s mother about threats I got from him,” he said, claiming to have the text Sharif sent him saying his life was in danger.

Khan said he told Sharif to leave the country, but Sharif was brave and did not take his advice. The head of the PTI said, “Sharif could not talk while he was in Pakistan, and everyone knows why they wanted to shut his mouth.”

Khan said he would march toward Islamabad tomorrow because the future would be ruined if these “thieves” kept running the country.

Khan said that people make mistakes, but “I want to save the institutions” when asked about his constant criticism of the “neutrals.”

“If they say I talk behind closed doors, they should tell me what we talked about,” Khan said, adding that he knew about the army chief’s extension. “If they can give him an extension, PTI could have given him one too.”

‘Did not get justice’

The former prime minister said that, except for Najam Sethi, he never had a case filed against a journalist for criticizing his party.

“I did not get justice when I was prime minister. The mafias are above the law, which is not right. “They keep trying to get NROs,” the ex-prime minister said.

He said he had never seen restrictions like the ones he had seen since he was fired in April. “If they say they will not let things get unstable, they should not have done what they did six months ago.”

The former prime minister said he had been treated like an enemy of the state, a criminal, and a traitor for the past six months. “I pay my servants to keep an eye on me.”

Khan said the secure phone line at the Prime Minister’s Office is also being tapped. He was talking about the recent audio leaks that shocked the country and included government and PTI officials.

“Now, people are coming to talk to my people, and one of them has chosen a side.”

“During the no-confidence motion, members of my party were asked to switch sides for Rs25–20 million. As a response, my people also decided to do the same.”

Khan also said that Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah is a criminal and that he would only talk to the government if it were ready to hold elections, which it is not right now.

ISPR says that the military refused to take part in an “illegal decision.”

Director-General Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Lt Gen Nadeem Anjum made fun of PTI leader Imran Khan earlier in the day by saying that the former prime minister could not meet army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa at night and then called him a “traitor” the next day.

“If the leader is a traitor, why did you meet him while he was hiding? You have the right to meet with him, but you cannot meet with him at night and then call him a traitor during the day,” asked the DG ISI.

Lt. Gen Anjum said that the military was called “neutral and an animal” because refusing to go along with an illegal decision was treason. He said the army had decided not to do the illegal job, not just one person or the army chief.

“The former government offered the army chief an extension for an indefinite amount of time during his term so that the no-trust motion would fail, but he refused,” Lt Gen Anjum said. He also wondered why, if the president was a traitor, he had been praised so much in recent years.

“If you think the army chief is a traitor, why did you want to extend his term and why do you still meet with him in secret?” asked the DG ISI.