Imran Khan blames Pakistan Army chief for arrest

Former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan has blamed Army chief General Asim Munir for his abduction on May 9 and distanced himself from the violence across the country after his dramatic arrest from a courtHe expressed these views during an informal chat with media persons on the premises of Islamabad High Court IHC on Friday the Dawn newspaper reported on SaturdayIn a major relief to Khan the IHC on Friday granted him protective bail for two weeks in a corruption case and barred the authorities from arresting the former Pakistan prime minister in any case registered anywhere in the country until MondayAlso Read Imran Khan back at Lahore residence after securing bail in many casesThree different benches of the IHC granted relief to the 70yearold Pakistan TehreekeInsaf PTI chief who was escorted to the court amid tight securityWhile talking to a BBC correspondent during the break time Khan said Its not the security agencies Its one man the Army chief There is no democracy in the Army The Army is getting maligned with what is happening he replied when asked about the impression that security agencies were against him whereas the judiciary was favouring himAnd he the Army chief is worried that if I come to power I will denotify himAll this is happening is direct orders from him He is the one who is convinced that if I win he will be denotified alleged KhanKhan was arrested by paramilitary Rangers from the Islamabad High Court while he was undergoing a biometric process before a court hearingThe Rangers which operate under the Interior Ministry are usually commanded by officers on secondment from the Pakistan ArmyThe expremier also talked about the victimisation of his party by the government alleging that 5000 people have been arrested during the last one yearHe said he had survived two assassination attempts and had only called for an investigation regretting that his demand had been rejectedWhen another journalist asked Khan about getting relief from the Supreme Court which had never been provided to any other politician the PTI chief said how it could be called a relief when he was still sitting in the courtI am sitting in the Islamabad High Court They had no justification to arrest me I was abducted They showed me a warrant for the first time after taking me to jail This happens only where there is a law of the jungle and where the Army abducts people he saidWhere is the law Where are the police It seems that martial law has been declared in the country he saidReiterating his position which he took in the Supreme Court on Thursday evening Khan said he was totally unaware of the developments which took place after his arrest and claimed that he had learnt that 40 people had lost their lives during the twoday protestsKhan also alleged that he was tortured and hit by a baton on his head at the time of his arrest He however described his treatment while he was in the custody of the National Accountability Bureau NAB as fairKhan said that what happened after his arrest was beyond his controlHow could I be blamed for those incidents that happened while I was in custody he wondered while responding to his critics who were blaming him for violent protests and damage to private and public property during the countrywide agitationSeparately Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif took Khan to task for targeting the Army chiefThis is the same mindset that falsely accused patriotic army officers of their murders and spun false stories of ciphers and foreign conspiracies This is antinationalism and the manifestation of the real ambitions of the terrorist masterminds he saidKhan was ousted from power in April last year after losing a noconfidence vote in his leadership which he alleged was part of a USled conspiracy targeting him because of his independent foreign policy decisions on Russia China and AfghanistanSharif also said that the statement is an admission that what happened on May 9 happened at the behest of Khan Sharif also blamed Khan for the desecration of martyrs and martyrs memorials and the attack on sensitive installations and buildingsThe Prime Minister said that Khans issue with General Munir is that as the ISI chief he came to know the corruption of Khan his wife and othersOn Friday InterServices Public Relations ISPR Director General Major General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said that the army is united despite internal miscreants and external enemiesThe dream of dividing the Pakistan Army will remain a dream the Army is united under the leadership of Army Chief General Asim Munir and will remain united the military spokesman said