Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan denied Saturday that his party workers were involved in attacks on military installations, including the Lahore Corps Commander House and the General Headquarters (GHQ), during the violent protests that gripped the country recently following his arrest. He has urged Supreme Court (SC) of Pakistan to launch an investigation.
Addressing the nation via video link, the PTI chairman said that those who were escaping from the elections wanted to create unrest and chaos in the country, not his party.
He said when he was shot on November 3, 2022, there was no vandalism because he did not believe in violence. “This is not my philosophy. Because I believe when you put the party on this path, it becomes bloodthirsty.”
Imran Khan emphasised the need for tolerance over criticism, saying that any society which tolerates criticism progresses.
He noted that the country’s freedom ends when independent judiciary is compromised, adding that the latter protects fundamental rights of the citizens. “The only reason Pakistan has not progressed because there is no rule of law,” he added.
Imran Khan went to say that the 145 cases filed against him are ‘bogus’, praising the higher judiciary for ‘saving him’ from being jailed in fake cases.
During his address, the PTI chairman maintained that his supporters had always maintained peacefulness during their 27-year struggle. He said he could never forget May 25 when the state unleashed violence on PTI supporters and activists.
The former prime minister — who was deposed from office in April last year — thanked the judiciary for saving him from going to prison in “fake cases”.
On May 11, the Supreme Court declared Khan’s arrest in the case “illegal” authorities had been ordered to release him “immediately”.
The top court sent the PTI chief to the Police Lines Guest House and ordered him to present himself before the IHC, the same court which declared his arrest legal.
The PTI chairman Friday got blanket relief from the IHC as the authorities have been barred from arresting the deposed prime minister in any case till May 15.
Imran Khan calls for ‘independent probe’ into vandalism, violence during protests
