According to Marriyum, COAS General Asim is unwilling to talk with Imran Khan.
ISLAMABAD: Information Minister, Marriyum Aurangzeb, has denied claims made by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman, Imran Khan, that the current Chief of Army Staff, General Syed Asim Munir, is interfering in the democratic process and providing evidence to the government to file cases against Khan.
In an interview, Aurangzeb revealed that when General Munir was the spy chief, he had informed then-prime minister Khan that his cabinet minister and wife were involved in corruption and provided evidence, but instead of taking action against the corrupt officials, Khan removed General Munir from the post of Director-General of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
Aurangzeb added that Khan knew the current army chief was aware of his corruption and had evidence but claimed that General Munir is not willing to talk to Khan or interfere in the democratic process. Referring to Khan’s tirade against the establishment, Aurangzeb said that Khan offered the former Chief of Army Staff, General (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa, a lifetime extension behind closed doors and also met him in the President House to invite him to interfere in the process of vote of no-confidence against him.
Aurangzeb also addressed the references filed by the Federal Investigation Agency and the National Accountability Bureau, stating that they were in the courts where Khan was not ready to face the law and defend himself. She added that Khan is trying to develop the perception that the government is settling some political vendetta or making him a target of political victimisation, which is contrary to the facts.
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Furthermore, Aurangzeb highlighted that when Khan was in the government, the opposition leaders who asked questions were sent to jail and were “kept in death cells.” She also stated that if the government had wanted to target Khan, they would not have waited for 14 months, and they could have arrested him just for the cypher thing, the joke that he was moving around with, and he would have been behind bars.
Aurangzeb pointed out that Imran Khan dissolved the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab assemblies on what he called Bajwa’s advice. She said that Khan’s diktats could not be followed as there was a constitution and law which would take its own course, and the election would be held after completion of the constitutional tenure.