ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founding chairman Imran Khan said Wednesday the only democratic government in Pakistan was of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
In a message from Adiala jail, Imran said democracy cannot be imagined in a society in absence of morality there. The details of the manner in which democracy and morality have been flouted in Pakistan, he pointed out, are before the nation, while ex-caretaker Prime Minister Anwarul Haq Kakar’s views regarding the February 8 elections and the confessional statement of the Rawalpindi commissioner before that are enough to tell the reality of democracy in Pakistan.
“At present, there is only one democratic government in Pakistan and that is the government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Slavery makes people small and small people can never do big things. Man’s dignity and freedom together make him a great human being,” he noted.
Under the PTI government in KP, he noted, there is no ban on any political party in the entire province from carrying out any political activity. Apart from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, he claimed, the Form 47 governments across Pakistan block every peaceful democratic and legitimate political activity of the PTI, our workers are subjected to the worst harassment and torture, and false cases are filed against them.
“Democracy and morality are destroyed from the country to protect the interests of the corrupt ruling elite, so that is why whoever reached the position of governance in Pakistan looted and sent money out. The latest example is the interior minister. Mohsin Naqvi will have to be held accountable on Dubai Leaks and the they will have to give a money trail of his wife’s property and tell the nation that when Mohsin Naqvi and his wife’s entire business is in Pakistan, how the money was transferred out to buy property. Similarly, they will have to respond to the wheat scandal,” he said.
Imran said that inside the prison, a person gets an opportunity to be close to his Lord and establish a relationship with the Creator. “In jail, I have limited my needs so it is no longer difficult to stay in jail. I understand that when you give up slavery to your desires, you become free and free people make free decisions,” he said.
Imran said the Hamoud-ur-Rehman Commission report covers the tragic tragedy of 1971 very comprehensively as, according to the report, Yahya Khan caused irreparable damage to the army to increase his power.
According to the report, he said, “Our Army fought well on the battlefield, but one individual, Yahya Khan, foiled all the efforts of the Army. Henry Kissinger mentions in his book that Yahya Khan wanted to be the head of both the army and the country for five years, for which he had prepared his own separate constitution.”“Yahya Khan caused so much damage to the army that the army itself had to remove him,” Imran added. Meanwhile, Speaking at a press conference here along with PTI founding chairman’s lawyers Naeem Panjutha, Intazar Hussain Panjutha and Chaudhary Hameed Pothi, PTI Information Secretary Raoof Hasan reiterated that they were not against the army as an institution but against the one-man dictatorship and would fight against it until the restoration of constitutional supremacy and rule of law. He said the government of stooges was hell-bent on putting the existence of the country at risk by promoting one-man dictatorship.
Quoting Imran Khan, lawyer Intazar Hussain Panjutha said if the public mandate was not accepted, then the situation could lead to the 1971 like situation. That was why Khan stressed reading the Hamoodur Rahman Commission Report so that “we learn from history and avoid mistakes”. Raoof sounded alarm that the government of stooges was putting the country at risk by perpetuating a one-man dictatorship.
Raoof said that all efforts of the government were focused on preventing Imran Khan’s release and to delay the hearing of cases. “We fear that more cases will be registered against Imran Khan soon,” he said. He claimed that Imran Khan had already asked the nation to prepare for a massive public movement to restore constitutional supremacy and uphold the rule of law. In the past, he pointed out that dictatorship either abrogated or suspended the Constitution to take the reins of the country and secured legitimacy from the apex court, subsequently plunging the country into flames of international war to get world powers’ recognition.
Similarly, he said the US could again launch a war to contain China, and Pakistan could be a major player in this war but it could put the very existence of Pakistan into question.
He said that Nawaz cannot talk about democracy and democratic values as he was nurtured by a dictator. Lashing out at PM Shehbaz Sharif for using ‘threatening language’ against judges, who dared to give fair decisions, he said that the Sharifs had a long history of buying and bullying judges to get favourable decisions but times have now changed.
Raoof lauded the judges for exposing the dirty meddling in the affairs of the judiciary by writing to the Supreme Judicial Council. He made it clear that Khan was exercising extreme restraint but the PTI and its leadership were facing immense public pressure to launch a massive public movement and they were not sure how long they would resist that pressure.
Raoof pointed out that over 200 fake, bogus, fabricated and politically motivated cases were registered against Imran but they miserably failed to get anything meaningful against him.
Naeem Panjutha said judge transferred the Iddat case decision to another court instead of announcing the judgment. He said the government’s legal team resorted to creating commotion in the court to disrupt the proceedings and targeted the judge to postpone the hearing.
During this episode, the PTI legal team exercised immense restraint so that the judge could pronounce the decision. However, he unexpectedly announced his recusal and transferred the case to another court.