Islamabad [Pakistan], September 6 (ANI): Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan, who is currently, incarcerated in Adiala Jail, has warned to call for street protests if the government tries to sabotage the independence of the judiciary.
Khan said that Pakistan’s army belongs to the whole nation and not just one political party or army chief. He stated that the government has destroyed every institution, including the police, National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and termed the Supreme Court people’s only hope.
Imran Khan’s statement shared by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) reads, “Former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Statements from Adiala Jail: September 4, 2024 Pakistan’s army belongs to everyone – to the whole nation – not just one political party or the army chief. They robbed the election and are now not allowing the judiciary to function independently. They have destroyed every institution including the Police, NAB (National Accountability Bureau) and the FIA (Federal Investigation Agency). Now the Supreme Court is the people’s only hope.”
“The Police and NAB are being weaponized against us. The Commissioner of Rawalpindi is a witness to this because he supervised the election in the Pindi Division. When the Commissioner of Rawalpindi told everyone the truth about the Chief Justice and the Election Commission, he was forcibly disappeared. Had the Chief Justice been innocent, he would surely have summoned the Commissioner of Rawalpindi to his court. I am now announcing that if they try to sabotage the independence of the judiciary, I will call for street protests,” he added.
Former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Statements from Adiala Jail:
September 4, 2024
Pakistan’s army belongs to everyone – to the whole nation – not just one political party or the army chief. They robbed the election and are now not allowing the judiciary to function…
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) September 5, 2024
PTI founder Imran Khan said that the party that did not win a total of 20 seats was given a “fake mandate” and brought into power. He said that nations are destroyed when “corrupt and incompetent people are placed into positions of power in state institutions.”
Reiterating claims of rigging in general elections held on February 8, Khan said, “They did not even let the opposing team (PTI) step out onto the field, and yet they lost heavily. Those who could not even win a total of 20 seats were given a fake mandate and brought into power. They are doing what even an enemy would not be able to do, causing damage to the institution. Nations are not destroyed when their (external) enemies attack. Nations are destroyed when corrupt and incompetent people are placed into positions of power in state institutions.”
He also questioned the appointment of Mohsin Naqvi as Pakistan’s Cricket Board chairman and criticised him for the Pakistan cricket team’s poor performance against Bangladesh.
Blaming PCB chairman for Pakistan cricket team’s poor performance against Bangladesh in recent Test series, Imran Khan said, “Mohsin Naqvi was made the Interior Minister as well as the Chairman of the cricket board. He was given this position by none other than the “Big Boss” himself, and now he has annihilated cricket. The Pakistan Cricket Team suffered a whitewash at the hands of Bangladesh. What can be a worse defeat than that? What was the calamity that caused our team’s performance to become worse than that of the Bangladesh team, and for the team to be completely destroyed in just three years? Favorites have been imposed to run a technical sport like cricket.”
Raising questions over Naqvi’s appointment as PCB chairman, he said, “What are Mohsin Naqvi’s qualifications? Ramiz Raja was not related to me. He was a professional cricketer whom I made the Chairman of PCB (Pakistan Cricket Board). Mohsin Naqvi committed election fraud and was involved in the wheat procurement fraud (scandal). Yet, he was appointed as the Interior Minister and Chairman PCB by the “Big Boss”. The Dubai Leaks exposed assets worth five million dollars belonging to Mohsin Naqvi’s wife. Where did that money come from?”
He said that Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa has not announced the reserved verdict in the NAB Amendments appeal since two and a half months. He said that Justice Isa has not announced the verdict as he wants him to get convicted in the “ridiculous Al-Qadir University.”
Imran Khan said, “I have already said that, although the amendments to NAB (anti-corruption) laws would go in my favor, I am contesting them for the sake of the nation. A game is being played. Four references against Nawaz Sharif, five against Shehbaz Sharif, and nine against Zardari and his front-men have been frozen, yet false references against me are being conducted at full speed.”
He said that NAB has frozen donations for Al Qadir University and stressed that it is the only rural university.
“NAB has frozen donations for Al-Qadir University. After Namal, Al-Qadir is only the second rural university. One hundred percent of students are getting free education at Al-Qadir University. They want to shut down Al-Qadir University. But shutting it down will not do me any harm, it will hurt the students. We have already fallen behind in the subcontinent in the field of education. If Shaukat Khanum (Cancer Hospital) is also shut down, people will have to pay ten times more for cancer treatment,” he said.
Imran Khan said that he has not spent a single day at the prison hospital. He alleged that Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif and Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari were given air conditioned rooms with en-suite bathrooms when they were in prison.
Highlighting the problems he faces in prison, PTI founder said, “One of the prisoners cooks for me, but I have never complained. Only three visits are allowed to meet with me in a week, whereas Nawaz Sharif met with forty people (when he was in jail). It was an open house for him. Nawaz Sharif used to even talk to journalists in the privacy of his own room. I send the names of six of my party leaders every week, and only three are allowed to meet me for a mere thirty minutes.”
“I have so many cases against me, and yet, I am only allowed to meet with six lawyers. I am kept in solitary confinement. I spend 21 hours of the day inside my prison cell. My cell heats up like an oven because of the weather, but I have never complained, never said I’m suffering. I have to go to a separate room to bathe. I have just one complaint, though. I am not allowed to speak with my children, although that is my legal right,” he added.
Rejecting the government’s claims of providing five-star facilities to him, PTI founder stated that he has the same facilities as an inmate on death row.
He said, “It feels as though a Martial Law administrator is in charge. Under which law are journalists not allowed to ask me questions? I am the leader of Pakistan’s biggest political party. It is my legal and constitutional right to speak with members of the media in an open court.”
Khan said that his wife Bushra Bibi has been “unjustly imprisoned” for the past seven months and added that she is a housewife who never interfered in government’s affairs. He also said that women members of PTI were being subjected to ill-treatment for the past one and a half years, calling it “inhumane and extremely sad.”
Imran Khan, who served as Pakistan’s Prime Minister from 2018 to 2022, has been incarcerated in Adiala Jail since August 2023 on multiple charges, including the Toshakhana case, the cypher case, and the unlawful marriage case.His wife Bushra Bibi has also been behind bars for months. (ANI)
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