Khan’s party says as military vows not to allow defamation. Former prime minister Imran Khan’s party on Saturday questioned the military’s response to its allegations a major general was among officials who had plotted a gun attack on the ex-premier this week, questioning why individual officers were above criticism.
Khan was shot in the legs on Thursday as he led a protest caravan to the capital, Islamabad, from Lahore, aiming to force the government to call snap elections.
The ex-premier was removed from office in a no-trust vote by parliament in April. Since then, he has frequently criticized the army for not blocking his ouster, which he says was part of a United States-backed “foreign conspiracy.”
Since Thursday’s attack, Khan has held three officials responsible: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah and ISI director-general for counter intelligence, Major General Faisal Naseer. On Friday night, the army released a strongly worded statement calling the accusations against Naseer “baseless and irresponsible.”
“No one will be allowed to defame the institution or its soldiers with impunity,” the media wing of the army said, adding that it had requested the Pakistan government “to investigate the matter and initiate legal action against those responsible for defamation and false accusations against the institution and its officials without any evidence whatsoever.”
Several senior leaders of Khan’s Tehreek-e-Insaf party responded to the army’s statement on Saturday, saying criticism of individual officers should not be equated with criticism of the military as an institution.
Close Khan aide and senior PTI leader Asad Umar questioned why officers had faced court martial trials in the past if no serviceman had ever committed wrongs.
“Even general officers have been court martialed in the past. If they do carry out acts which can be subject to court martial why cannot they be criticized as individuals,” Umar, himself the son of a military general, wrote on Twitter.
Any attempt to equate criticism of individuals with criticism of the institution is rejected. The institution deserves love and respect based on the sacrifices made by its members to protect the nation. Each and every individual is not necessarily worthy of that love & respect.” Speaking to international media on Friday night, Khan said Pakistan needed a strong army.
“However, when you remove entirely the element of criticism and say that someone is above the law, then no system can work like this,” the former PM told a group of foreign correspondents at Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital, where he is being treated for gunshot wounds.
PTI leader Omar Ayub Khan, the grandson of former military ruler Ayub Khan, also took to Twitter and called for accountability of officers crossing the “red line” of service rules.
“An FIR (first information report) can be registered against [ex-PM Zulfiqar Ali] Bhutto. An FIR can be lodged against Imran Khan under terrorism clauses,” Mashwani said, questioning why an FIR could not be registered against Maj Gen Naseer. Pakistan’s powerful military has ruled the South Asian country for around half of its 75-year history and is often accused of engineering the ascent of political figures to power. The army denies it interferes in politics.
