ISLAMABAD
Minister for Defence, Khawaja Muhammad Asif on Friday questioned PTI’s move to approach the US and other international groups about the so-called human rights violations.
“Today Shireen Mazari has written a letter to the US raising so-called human rights violations in Pakistan. The country which was accused of conspiracy against Pakistan and Imran Khan’s government. The same people are asking for help from the alleged perpetrators of the foreign conspiracy.
This is some total of Imran Khan’s political journey,” the minister told foreign media in Islamabad. Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Marriyum Aurangzeb, the Defence Minister was also present on the occasion.
The Defence Minister underlined that it was the aptest definition of what happened in the last one year, the behaviour of PTI and its leader Imran khan. He maintained that nowhere in the world an accused had ever refused to appear in the court.
“Its for the last so many weeks that Imran Khan refused to appear in the courts on different pretexts and security reasons or reasons of being victimized. And then his appearance is accepted in the court while he still sits in the car and he actually attacks the courts or the courts are mocked by his supporters,” he added.
Khawaja Asif alleged that every time he appeared in the courts, the judiciary was intimidated. He informed that when the police team was sent to his residence to arrest him and produce him in the court, adding, “The police was attacked with the mallet of cocktail, firing and at least 70 to 80 police officers, including senior officers were injured trying to arrest him.
They pitched battle outside his (Imran Khan) house. This has never happened in Pakistan.” He said the government was ready to hold a comprehensive dialogue with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) for the sake of the country’s prosperity to entertain only national interest.
The government would not oblige any transactional dialogue with the Opposition, as nothing would come out of it, dialogue intended to satiate personal motives, he said. Khawaja Asif said, “We assumed this govt almost a year back. We are completing one year in power as a result of the successful vote of no confidence against the then government.”
“To prevent that vote of no confidence different unconstitutional actions were taken by Imran Khan’s government and his collaborators were the President and [then] Deputy Speaker.” He added that around midnight the decisions of dissolution of the assembly and other decisions were overturned by the Supreme Court.
“That fateful night the constitution was undermined and violated and thankfully the Supreme Court intervened and set things right and we are in the government today,” he added. The Minister said a lot had happened over the last one year in the political journey in the Opposition. “Imran Khan’s political journey started with a cipher.”
The Minister said during his (Imran Khan) regime and in the past also opposition workers and leaders were arrested and they always submitted in a very graceful, and dignified manner as political workers to whatever victimization was taking place. “They never contested their arrest physically, never abused and maligned the courts.
During the last four years of his (Imran Khan) rule as Prime Minister, almost the whole of the top leadership of PML-N was arrested.” “Our leader Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif got arrested who came back from the UK to surrender, his daughter, sons and nephews were arrested. But never was there any sort of resistance for being arrested.”
The Minister while sharing his account claimed that he got picked up from the Embassy Road and remained in jail for almost six months. “My wife appeared in the courts. Almost for three years my wife and sons appeared in court. The victimization of the Opposition was unprecedented in Khan’s era.
We have checkered the political history of our country, when politicians were victimized during martial laws and military governments. But this sort of victimization and hounding was never there. The politicians were hanged like Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was hanged and it was a judicial murder. Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto was martyred by the terrorists.”
The Minister further stated that Nawaz Sharif was removed from the government thrice but his party and workers never resorted to the methods or sort of things taking place for the past three to four weeks violating the laws and constitution.
