Imran Khan says ‘ready to die than live under these duffers’ before his arrest

ISLAMABAD: Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, who was arrested by Rangers from outside Islamabad High Court Tuesday, had said earlier in the day that the Shehbaz Sharif government wants to put him in jail and he is ready for it.

“I am ready to die than live under these duffers, the question is are you ready? There is no case on me. They want to put me in jail, I am ready for it,” Imran Khan said in a video posted on his Twitter handle.

“My reply to ISPR and attempts by PDM (Pakistan Democratic Movement) and their handlers to arrest me for two reasons: one, to prevent me from campaigning because Insha Allah when elections are announced I will be doing jalsas; two, to prevent me from mobilising the masses for street movement in support of Constitution if PDM government and their handlers refuse to obey the SC and violate Constitution on holding of elections”, he added.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf chief doubled down on his allegations against a serving senior military officer, who Khan has accused on several occasions of hatching a plot to assassinate him. In his video, Imran Khan replied to the ISPR and “attempts by PDM and their handlers” regarding his arrest. He said that he was departing for the federal capital as he was scheduled to appear before two courts.

His biting rejoinder comes a day after the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said that “irresponsible and baseless allegations” by Imran against the said military officer without evidence were “extremely unfortunate, deplorable and unacceptable”.

During a rally on Saturday, the PTI chairman had once again named a senior intelligence official for orchestrating plans to murder him. “I am on the roads despite verifiable threats to my life. I have already escaped an assassination attempt once. On the second occasion, I was able to sniff out murder planning”, he had said.

This was not the first time the ex-premier has made these claims. After an assassination attempt last year, Imran had held Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah and the senior intelligence official as being responsible for the bid to assassinate him and demanded they resign.

“Before I leave, I want to say two things. Firstly, the ISPR has issued a statement that the institution has been disrespected — the army has been disrespected (by) naming an intelligence officer who has tried to kill me twice”, Imran Khan said.

“ISPR sahib, listen to me carefully. Respect is not (confined) to a single institution; respect should be for every single citizen. This man tried to kill me twice and whenever an investigation is carried out, I will prove that it was this man and there is a whole gang with him”, Imran said, adding that the nation was well aware of who was standing with the officer in question.

“My question is: (Despite being) a country’s ex-prime minister — because this man’s name has come forward — (why was) I unable to register a first information report (FIR)?” he added. Imran Khan said that the truth will only surface once an investigation is carried out. “If he was innocent, it would have been revealed”, the PTI chief said, terming the officer in question to be such a “powerful personality” that he was unable to register a case despite being in power in Punjab.

He said that two senior police officials had refused to become a part of the joint investigation team (JIT) formed by the Punjab government to investigate the attack on his life in Wazirabad. “Who was behind it? Who was this powerful?”

He alleged that when the JIT determined that three shooters were involved in the incident, the team itself was “sabotaged” and that four Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) officials changed their statements. “The prosecutor general investigated. He said action should be taken against the four because they tried to sabotage (the JIT). Who was behind them? Who was this powerful?”

Imran Khan further claimed that he will prove that the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) had taken over the Judicial Complex in Islamabad the night before he went to attend a hearing in the Toshakhana case in March.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf chairman has already claimed that he did not disembark from his vehicle because “unknown people” were positioned and there with plans to kill him. “I will prove that ISI (officials) were present in CTD uniforms and lawyers’ garb. I will prove that a brigadier, who I will not name, was there to monitor everything. What was the ISI doing there?”

Imran Khan said that the mother of slain journalist Arshad Sharif had also taken the names of the intelligence officer and the gang that he was a part of, yet no investigation was carried out as he was a “holy cow” and, therefore, above the law. “ISPR sahib, when an institution takes action against black sheep, it improves its own credibility. An institution which catches corrupt people strengthens itself”.

He said that action is taken when a doctor or an employee does something wrong at Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital (SKMH). “It is my army, my Pakistan not just yours. It is our army,” Imran asserted. He also lamented the crackdown against those who were vocal about their criticism of the military establishment, stating that it was in fact harming the institution.

Imran Khan went on to say that there was also no need to call in a heavy contingent of police and other officials during his appearance before the courts in Islamabad. “If someone has a warrant, come to me directly (…) I am prepared to go to jail (…) spending so much money as if a major criminal… is coming to Islamabad. Do us a favour and don’t stage such a drama and directly provide a warrant”, he said, asserting that he was mentally prepared to go to jail.

He also said that the plan hatched by “Dirty Harry” involved a gang of people, adding that if God willed, he was ready to die at their hands. He ended his video by calling on the nation to “get ready”.

In a shocking turn of events, PTI chief Imran Khan, who was present at the Islamabad High Court (IHC) for two hearings on Tuesday afternoon, was arrested in the Al-Qadir Trust case. Islamabad police released a statement quoting Inspector General (IG) Akbar Nasir Khan as saying that Imran had been arrested in the “Qadir Trust case”.

The police chief also said that the situation in Islamabad was “normal”, adding that Section 144 had been imposed in the city and action would be taken against violators.

After the Tosha Khana scandal — which related to controversy over auctioning of 112 precious gifts which Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi retained at nominal prices from the treasure-house — another scandal against the ousted PM, his wife Bushra Bibi and their close aides Zulfiqar Abbas Bukhari and Zaheer Ud Din Babar Awan, has emerged exposing the malpractices, legal lacunae, financial speculation and operational matters of the Al-Qadir University Project Trust (AQUPT).

“Former PM Imran Khan has been abducted from court premises, scores of lawyers and general people have been tortured, Imran Khan has been whisked away by unknown people to an unknown location, CJ Islamabad High Court has ordered Secy interior and IG police to appear within 15 min in the court,” tweeted PTI vice-president Fawad Chaudhry.

PTI lawyer Faisal Chaudhry had initially confirmed news of Imran’s arrest to Dawn.com that had also prompted IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq to direct the Islamabad police chief, the interior ministry secretary and the additional attorney general to appear before the court within 15 minutes.

The PTI’s official Twitter account also shared the video of Imran’s lawyer, saying that he was “badly injured” outside the IHC. It also shared a video of visuals from Imran’s alleged arrest. “Pakistan’s brave people must come out and defend their country”, the party said. (ANI)