Ex-PM Imran Khan demands inquiry against former COAS Bajwa over oath violation

LAHORE, Feb 16 (SABAH): Former prime minister and Chairman Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan on Thursday requested President Dr. Arif Alvi, who is also supreme commander of the armed forces, to initiate an inquiry against former Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa over his alleged involvement in his ouster.

Imran Khan has been accusing the former army chief of playing a key role in toppling the PTI government since he failed to obtain a no-confidence vote from the National Assembly in April last. The campaign got pace in November last after retired General Bajwa hung the boots as Imran Khan openly slammed him for derailing a democratic set-up through a conspiracy.

Imran Khan has sent a letter to President Dr. Arif Alvi, highlighting that some recent information surfaced on media proved that Bajwa as COAS violated his oath of office repeatedly. In the letter, Imran Khan referred to an article of journalist Javed Chaudhry wherein the latter had written about his conversation with the former army chief.

“He [Bajwa] has admitted to journalist Javed Chaudhry that ‘we’ (and it would be critical to ascertain from him who was the ‘we’ in reference to) considered Imran Khan dangerous to the country if he continued to stay in power,” Khan told the President in the letter.

“The question that arises is who gave him the power to decide that an elected PM was supposedly a ‘danger to the country if he continued to stay in power’. Only the people through elections can decide who they want to elect as PM.” He said taking such a right on himself is in clear violation of his oath as given in Third Schedule Article 244 of the Constitution.

The PTI chairman said retired General Bajwa had also admitted his role in dismissal of a NAB case against former finance minister Shaukat Tarin. “He managed to get NAB case against Shaukat Tarin dismissed revealing that NAB was under his control,” reads the letter.  The former premier said it was also a clear violation of the Constitutional oath because “the army itself is a department under the Ministry of Defence and civilian autonomous institutions do not come military control”.

“According to a Vlog of a Pakistani journalist Aftab lqbal, Gen Bajwa told him in conversation that he had tapes of then PM Imran Khan’s conversations with him. This is a serious violation again of his oath and violation of fundamental human rights. The question is why and under what authorisation was Gen Bajwa recording to confidential conversations?” the letter said.

He alleged that Bajwa as COAS also committed another serious violation of his oath when he publicly went against the then government’s policy of maintaining neutrality in the Russia-Ukraine war. “He [Bajwa] did this at an international conference in Islamabad on April 2, 2022 – the Islamabad Security Conference,” he said.

Imran Khan said it was constitutional duty of the president and as supreme commander of the armed forces to “take immediate action and institute an inquiry so as to establish whether such grave violations of the Constitution and oath of Office under the Constitution have taken place”.