LAHORE - Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan Wednesday flayed the federal government for fast deteriorating security situation in the country and said that he wanted to retain Lieutenant General (Retd) Faiz Hameed as the chief of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) to counter an expected increase in militant attacks in the winter of 2021-22, as there was a fear of war in Afghanistan. Addressing PTI workers via video link on Wednesday, the PTI chairman said that his relationship with former army chief General (Retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa was smooth, and they were on the same page for some time till the general demanded an NRO for the political opponents. However, Khan said that differences surfaced immediately after Bajwa got an extension in his tenure, who wanted the PTI government to forgive the cases against then-opposition leaders but ‘I did not listen to him’.
The second bone of contention, he said, was the removal of Lt Gen (retd) Faiz Hamid ISI chief as Bajwa wanted to appoint the head of the powerful spy service of his choice. However, he said: “There was a fear of war in Afghanistan which is why I wanted Faiz to retain his position.” “I wanted the best player to retain the DG ISI slot,” he said.
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He said after the Afghan Taliban took over in Kabul, his government tried to make contact with Kabul because the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) were operating in the tribal areas. He alleged that the incumbent government had made funny and insensitive statements about the tribal areas because they lacked an understanding about the tribal districts. He conceded to parlaying with terrorists for ensuring peace in the tribal areas but defended the move as the only pathway to sustainable peace. Imran said that talks on bringing peace in the tribal areas stalled, culminating in a resurgence of TTP in the Malakand. Khan Wednesday slammed the government for shifting blame over rising terrorism and berating his party for its policy towards the TTP. “I am not in power anymore. Had I been in the government, then I would have been answerable,” PTI Chairman hit out at the centre during his address to the nation. “I feared instability in Afghanistan; there were 30,000-40,000 fighters in Afghanistan. Then, a decision was taken by the parliament members and the armed forces that these fighters would be settled in Pakistan,” he added. Khan said that he feared instability, his government tried to negotiate with the group to ensure that Afghanistan’s fallout does not affect Pakistan. Khan said that had the coalition parties not removed his party from power, then the situation would have been completely different. Imran alleged that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif wanted to use the recent tragedy in Peshawar as an excuse to delay elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). He said that there were no “ifs” or “buts” in the Constitution on delaying elections. He reiterated that the Constitution clearly stated that elections must be held in 90 days. “I am telling you, they planned to delay elections for a year,” Imran claimed. He said that despite a war on terror and terror attacks at their peak, general elections were neither postponed in 2008 nor in 2013.
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