Bajwa put pressure on me to restore ties with India: Imran

LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has said former army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa pressurised him to restore friendship with India.

Talking to the media here on Saturday, he said Bajwa wanted friendship with India and put pressure on him for this. Bajwa said something one day and retracted it the next day. His accountability should be initiated within the army, he said.

Answering a question about the general elections, the PTI chairman said if the elections were not held in 90 days, there would be no Constitution left in the country and then he would take direct action.

The former prime minister accused the caretaker government of not being neutral and said it was acting like a B-team of the PMLN. He said there was no justification for the police attack on his house in his absence.

“A home invasion case has been prepared and will be filed soon,” he announced and alleged that caretaker Chief Minister Punjab Mohsin Naqvi, IGP Punjab and CCPO Lahore were criminals who were behind it.

Replying to a question about backdoor diplomacy with the establishment, he said President Arif Alvi was no longer doing any kind of mediation between the PTI and the establishment.

Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Pervaiz Elahi have been given the task of restoring contacts with other parties. Under which law these

people would restore the assemblies of Punjab and KP, he questioned and alleged that he and his party were facing a complete blackout in the mainstream media while the government was also trying to control the social media.

Meanwhile, under instructions from Chairman Imran Khan, Central PTI President Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi made telephone calls to different political leaders and consulted them on the political situation. The calls were made to Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan Convener Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, senior MQMP leaders Mustafa Kamal, Dr Waseem Akhtar, PAT’s Dr Hasan Mohiuddin, Secretary-General Khurram Nawaz Gandapur and Ameer of the Central Jamaat Ahle Hadith Pakistan Allama Zubair Ahmad Zaheer.

Various political leaders also met Elahi at his residence. Former provincial ministers Mian Mehmoodur Rasheed, Muhammad Basharat Raja, and former MPA Abdullah Yousuf were among them. Speaking to them, Elahi said that the full court mantra by the PDM was being harped to avoid the elections and termed the demand of the full court on the part of fugitive Nawaz Sharif ridiculous.

He said Nawaz had escaped jail by lying and he was now instructing the judiciary. He said the demand had exposed the conspiracy against the Supreme Court, which was being hatched from London.

He further claimed that the international community sees Shehbaz Sharif’s government as unstable and that even Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were not ready to give any guarantee to Sharif and Ishaq Dar.

He said that the international community saw the Tehreek Insaf as a party that would come to power in a few months, and there was a positive change in the attitude of America, with some think tanks discussing Imran Khan’s popularity and potential to become the prime minister again.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leaders Asad Umar and Senator Ijaz Ch on Saturday called on Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Ameer Sirajul Haq at Mansoorah in Lahore. Both sides discussed the political situation and agreed that the implementation of the Constitution was a solution to all problems and all stakeholders should at least unite on it, a statement issued by the JI spokesman said. Siraj said political parties should start a dialogue on the agenda of the general elections.