“I have instructed my party to stage peaceful protests outside GHQ if I am arrested,” says PTI founder
Despite a rebuttal from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Imran Khan stood by his earlier statement that he had instructed his party activists to stage peaceful protests outside the General Headquarters of Army (GHQ) in Rawalpindi before his arrest last year.
The jailed former prime minister recently admitted that he had called for protests outside GHQ ahead of his arrest on May 9, 2023.
The PTI leadership denied media reports that Khan had joined the party, insisting that the party founder “has not said anything as reported in the media.”
“We (categorically) deny this,” former parliament speaker and PTI leader Asad Kaiser said, referring to the party’s founder’s statement.
However, Khan again stood by his earlier statement and said he had confirmed the same in “three video blogs.”
“I had told the party that if I am arrested, we should stage a peaceful protest outside GHQ,” he told reporters at Adiala Jail on Monday.
He said he had given instructions to hold protests at the garrison camps in the city, adding that he had mentioned the matter around 12 times during the investigation.
Asked about the violent protests on May 9 in which state-owned facilities, including military installations, were attacked across the country, Khan said the violence was “pre-planned” and the protests were not peaceful.
He said criticism must be made of any institution.
The PTI leader, who is facing legal challenges, also came up with a new stand regarding his statement that “only animals are neutral” from 2022.
“Neutral does not mean barbaric, it means apolitical. What I meant to say is that the army is non-partisan,” he said, referring to remarks he made at a rally in Lower Dir in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in 2022 when he was prime minister.
The former prime minister has been embroiled in a series of incidents for his alleged involvement in the May 9 riots that erupted after his arrest in a corruption case, in which several military and government facilities, including the residence of the Lahore corps commander, were destroyed.
Previous governments, including the current one, have repeatedly accused the PTI founder and its leaders of orchestrating “coordinated” attacks on military installations.
Despite receiving relief in five cases, the former chief minister remains in jail, having been arrested in the May 9 case and charged in a new trial in Toshakhana after being acquitted in the Idat case.
