ISLAMABAD - Minister of Defence Khawaja Asif yesterday lashed out at PTI Chairman Imran Khan, saying his political status was worthless without support from the ‘establishment’ and the government was not in a hurry to arrest Imran Khan.
Addressing a news conference here, the minister said Imran Khan is avoiding appearance before courts and is creating a drama.
“In the 75 years history of the country, no suspect has refused from appearing before courts,” he said adding Khan had no relationship with politics.
He said former chief justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar had admitted that he had not declared the PTI chief “completely Sadiq and Amin”.
Kh Asif claimed Imran was begging to meet the army chief, adding that he used to praise retired Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa but now he was demanding his court martial. He said if “selective justice” was given to Imran Khan it would deteriorate the situation further. Kh Asif strongly criticized Imran Khan, and said the PTI chief was involved in a number of cases of financial misappropriation and he should be held accountable for this. He said the PTI chief was inciting the masses and his party workers against the state institutions, and even escaping to face the courts. The minister said all the tall slogans including “ Jail Bharo Tehreek’ of Imran Khan met with failure as the nation was well aware of his deeds and opportunist behaviour. Speaking on the rising incidents of terrorism, the defence minister expressed the government’s resolve to root out the menace of terrorism from the country. He expressed his profound grief and sorrow over the terrorist incident in Balochistan, which had claimed lives of security forces personnel the other day. He said the security forces were valiantly fighting against terrorism. The defence minister said he received a positive response from the interim Afghan authorities during his recent visit to Kabul.
