Army Chief of Pakistan General Asim Munir is planning a military takeover to crush former prime minister Imran Khan, the judiciary and disenfranchise millions of Pakistanis who came out to vote on February 8, Khan’s close aide Dr Salman Ahmad claimed in a conversation with CNN-News18.
“General Munir has gone into desperate mode because all of his attempts at defeating Imran Khan, either through rigging the elections on February 8 or getting the judiciary to convict him for close to 200 bogus cases, have failed. There is intense international pressure coming from the United Nations, which has said that Khan should be released immediately. Then, the United States Congress and now the State Department also, which has commented that banning Khan’s party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is going to cause great concern,” Ahmad said.
Commenting on his claims of a military takeover, he said: “It’s a very dangerous plan and the people of Pakistan and in the diaspora are looking at this with serious concern. The judiciary has to stand up as they have in the recent Supreme Court majority judgment which says that PTI is a political party, will remain a political party and that the February 8 elections were grossly manipulated by the Election Commission of Pakistan. So, this is a hammer blow to Pakistani democracy if a military takeover is allowed.”
Ahmad’s fears don’t seem to be unfounded as CNN-News18 accessed the 786 Intelligence Battalion report released in English on Wednesday, which said I&B minister Attaullah Tarar’s media briefing — as expected — was held with the main agenda being the high-power committee chaired by the Chief Of Army Staff at his camp office on July 14 at 12:00, which was attended by various stakeholders/participants.
The highlights of the high-power committee were:
(1) Prepare a reference to ban PTI as an anti-state party. Trial of top leadership of Tehreek-e-Insaaf under Article 6
(2) Strictly admonish the judges of the Supreme Court to act obediently and confirm the reference as placed before them.
(3) Crushing PTI and its top leadership under the guise of Ops Azm e Istehkam e Pak (Ops AIP) across Pakistan.
(4) Make advance preparations for imposition of emergency/martial law if Supreme Court judges misbehave and neglect reference.
(5) CGS and military commands along with government machinery prepare takeover plan. Imprisonment of all Supreme Court judges and other supporters of PTI should be ensured.
(6) Henceforth, Comd 111 Bde will brief DGMO on daily basis.
(7) DG ISPR prepare a suitable narrative for the upcoming tasks.
(8) The Adjutant General should immediately remove all pro-PTI officers from the army. Mass retrenchment and forced retirement plan of officers will be submitted to COAS for approval.
The Pakistani government had earlier this week said it plans to ban PTI, the party of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan. The announcement by Tarar came days after the Supreme Court handed a major legal victory to the PTI by declaring it eligible for a share of seats reserved in national and provincial assemblies.
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