Khawaja Asif tells Imran...: Don’t call army for help, do politics on your own

SIALKOT: Federal Minister for Defence Khawaja Muhammad Asif has advised Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan to stop calling the army for help, and do politics on his own, as no one will listen to him now.

Addressing a press conference at his residence here on Sunday, he said Imran Khan was leading the country towards bloodshed and chaos. He said the PTI had the platform of assemblies which they rejected, and now they were asking the institutions to facilitate them for talks with the government.

Kh Asif said Imran Khan levelled baseless and false allegations against former president Asif Ali Zardari that he wanted to get him killed. He said that there was fear of bloodshed in politics due to baseless accusations of Imran Khan. He said if anything bad happened, Imran Khan would be responsible for it.

The minister said the PPP was the party which offered countless sacrifices in the war against terrorism, and even Banazir Bhutto was martyred while fighting the war on terror. He said the history was witness to the fact that the PPP leaders had given their blood for peace and democracy in the country, whether it was the execution of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto or the martyrdom of Benazir Bhutto. He said despite execution and killings, the PPP did not resort to violence in the past.

“Today, the party has its government in one province; it is an ally in the federal government, and a major component of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM),” the minister added.

He said that by accusing Asif Zardari, Imran Khan had taken another stance, which might cause chaos in the country. He said Imran Khan’s statement might be life-threatening for the PPP leadership.

The defence minister said Imran Khan was responsible for country’s economic disaster, adding that all the cards Imran Khan played in politics had failed. He said that Imran Khan used to blame the USA for bringing down his government, but now he was accusing caretaker chief minister Mohsin Naqvi of doing so. He said there was a clear contradiction in Imran Khan’s words and actions.

The minister said the PTI had resigned from the assembly and Imran Khan said that he did not want to sit with thieves and dacoits. After that, at occasions he said his party would withdraw resignations and sometimes he said that they would not sit in the assembly. He said when the PTI’s resignations started being accepted, Imran Khan said: “We are coming back to the assembly”.

He said: “I am against political victimisation, but everyone knows that during the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) regime, the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PMLN) leadership including he himself and the PPP leaders were in jail. He said during the four-year rule of PTI, false cases were registered against the PMLN leaders.

Kh Asif said that no one targeted the PTI for political reasons. They were threatening the courts, abusing institutions and abusing the army chief and if they would threaten the national institutions, the law would take its own course.

In response to a question, he said the entire PDM leadership, including Nawaz Sharif and Asif Ali Zardari, were arrested in false cases, but Imran Khan was facing genuine cases. “Therefore, in my opinion, legal action must be taken against those who looted the country’s wealth,” he added.