If Imran gets arrested, he says, “This tweet could be my last.”
There is still time for conversation, according to the PTI leader.
LAHORE:
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan tweeted on Wednesday that he was “probably” sending his last tweet before his “possible arrest” since police had surrounded his Zaman Park home.
This will be my last tweet before I’m taken into custody again. Imran wrote, “The police have surrounded my house.” Imran also posted a video showing police in riot gear and police trucks driving on the road outside his Zaman Park home.
The PTI chairman had earlier addressed the crowd via video link from his home, warning that further escalation would not do “any good to anyone.”
Imran stated that the political problem may still be resolved through dialogue, although he emphasized that new elections were necessary.
Following his detention on May 9, Imran condemned the recent spate of attacks on government buildings and other important installations, saying that an independent probe was needed to identify those involved.
To emphasize the point, Imran said, “we did not accept the mandate of the most popular political leader of [former] East Pakistan, Sheikh Mujeebur Rehman” in 1970, despite the fact that these elections were among the most fair ever held. That, he said, led to the breakdown of the nation.
The PTI chairman claimed that similar tactics to those being used against the Awami League, the largest political party in East Pakistan, in 1971 had been utilized in Pakistan.
The former prime minister has said that the current government is trying to pit the largest political party in the country, the PTI, against the army in an effort to cover up the corruption of its officials.
His party’s officials and members were being “arrested and abducted illegally” because of the disturbances on May 9, he said, which he called “a complete fabrication.” He claimed that without an impartial investigation, the arrests of “over 7,500 PTI workers and supporters, in addition to senior leadership,” were justified.
Abducting and torturing women and children is against all moral and cultural norms. He claimed that women were being subjected to “extremely humiliating and inhuman treatment” for the sole purpose of safeguarding the stolen wealth of corrupt authorities.
Imran warned that if things continued as they were, it would become impossible to unite the country. The situation will spiral out of control if we don’t exercise self-discipline and make prudent decisions, he cautioned.
For the past year, he said, “attempts have been made to keep Imran Khan out of politics,” despite the fact that the PTI was the largest and most popular political party in the country.
The PTI chief said, “They do not want to hold elections just to keep Imran Khan out of politics, regardless of whether they have to break the Constitution or violate the orders of the Supreme Court.”
Imran emphasized that the PDM’s refusal to hold elections was motivated by a fear of failure. The PDM further claimed that if Imran Khan were elected, he would fire the army leader.
When I was prime minister, there were rumors that the head of the armed forces was plotting against me. Because I was concerned about undermining the institution, I refrained from getting involved in its internal matters. I have repeatedly told the military the same thing.
Imran went on to say that he alone among Pakistanis has consistently stood up for the Pakistan Army. When asked why he backs his military, Imran Khan said, “I support my army because I believe that [otherwise] Pakistan’s fate would not be different from those Muslim states, which had weak armies, like Iraq, Afghanistan, etc.”
He was responding to a government claim that 40 terrorists were hiding in Zaman Park, and he replied that if it was true, then his life was in risk, too. Please come, but do so civilly; he warned against an assault on his home.
“If the police come with a search warrant to carry out an operation at his residence”, he added, “he would cooperate.” But he thought the government was setting him up to be attacked at home.
