Khan’s political status worthless without support of establishment: Asif

ISLAMABAD, March 7 (SABAH): Minister of Defence Khawaja Asif on Tuesday hit out at the PTI Chairman Imran Khan, saying his political status was worthless without support from the establishment.

Addressing a press conference, Khawaja Asif said the former prime minister had been creating a drama for some days by not appearing before courts, stating: “In 75 years history of the country, no suspect has refused from appearing before courts”. He said Khan had no relationship with politics.

He said former chief justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar had admitted that he had not declared the PTI chief “100% Sadiq aur Amin”. He claimed Mr Khan was begging to meet the army chief, adding that he used to praise retired Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa but now he was demanding his court martial.

He said if “selective justice” was given to Imran Khan it would deteriorate the situation further. He clarified that the government was not in hurry to arrest Imran Khan.

Strongly criticising Imran Khan, Khawaja Asif said the PTI chief was involved in number of cases of financial misappropriation and he should be held accountable for this. He said the PTI chief was inciting the masses and his workers against the state institutions, and even escaping to face the courts.

The minister said all the tall slogans including ” Jail Bharo Tehreek’ of Imran Khan met to failure as the nation was well aware of his deeds and opportunist behaviour.

Meanwhile, Asif has reiterated the government’s resolve to root out menace of terrorism from the country. He expressed his profound grief and sorrow over the terrorist incident in Balochistan, which claimed lives of security forces personnel. He said the security forces were valiantly fighting against terrorism.

The defence minister said he received positive response from the interim Afghan authorities during his recent visit to Kabul. He said under Doha agreement, Afghanistan was bound that its soil is not used for terrorism and against Pakistan.

He said during the talks with the Afghan authorities, “we urged them to honour Doha Agreement and they acknowledged our position in this regard”.