ISLAMABAD: Though former Army Chief Ashfaq Pervaiz Kayani has not clarified his position on the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) rigging allegations, one of the former top generals has rubbished the latest accusation and said the PTI will have to pay the price.
Reacting to PTI Chief Imran Khan’s spokesperson Naeemul Haq’s latest wild allegations against the former military chief, General (R) Tariq Khan has rubbished the allegations in strong words.
In his remarks on Facebook, General Khan said this wild accusation will not go unnoticed, as it has raised fingers and accused the Pakistan Army.
“PTI says 2013 elections were rigged. They further accuse the Army of having a hand in it. The matter was confirmed by Mr. Naeem ul Haq, spokesperson for the PTI. He said it on TV and challenged the ex-COAS to prove him wrong. This is a new method to madness, PTI's rules of doing business: accuse who you wish, how you wish and when you wish. Walk off the playing field says the burden of proof lies with the one they have accused,” wrote General (R) Tariq on a post of Facebook.
Gen Khan further commented that he was supervising most of the districts in Punjab and the general elections 2013 were free and fair.
“I was responsible for most of interior Punjab, to include Faisalabad, Jhung, Jhelum, Chakwal, Talagang, Mianwali and Bhakker. Everything in between included. Had there been
any rigging undertaken by the Army, not only would I have been instructed to do it but I should be held responsible for it as well. No COAS needs to answer the rants of a frustrated political party and its disillusioned workers. There was no rigging done by the Army,” says the former general.
“The mandate for the Army's employment was established very clearly in a well defined document. First, it was only to provide a safe environment for the elections. Second, to ensure accessibility to the public to the polling stations. Third, to assist in the transportation of the ballot papers up to the district level in some places. The polling station had 2 or 3 soldiers to ensure order and to communicate to nearby quick reaction forces to respond to any untoward incident. This is all in writing and recorded,” he commented.
The former military commander further says, “The rest was done by the Election Commission and their staff. Now, despite this PTI says the Army has to prove its innocence. Those who have found it within them to accuse the Army are either patent liars or just plain ignorant, both not worthy of attention. Well the little respect I had for any political party was the PTI. It gradually eroded with each stupid step it took. Now I am disillusioned and with this last thoughtless outburst, I assure you, this last wild accusation will not go un-noticed, they would have lost the support of 0.7 million serving officers and soldiers and 3 million veterans. It appears that PTI's stupidity is only exceeded by the volume of its outbursts”.
According to reliable sources former military dictator General (retd) Pervez Musharraf wanted PML-Q to win the general elections 2008 at any cost and for this purpose he even wanted the Army’s help. However, the ex-COAS General (retd) Kayani categorically made it clear to him that Army would play no role in the elections. This was the reason that the former military dictator General (retd) Pervez Musharraf was not happy with General Kayani.
