Federal Minister for Defence, Khawaja Asif, has shifted the blame for Thursday’s assassination attempt on former Prime Minister Imran Khan onto the man himself, citing what he described as “crossing the red lines of religion”.
“The suspect’s videos that have surfaced … they show that religious fanaticism motivated the attack. Time and time again, the former prime minister came close to crossing boundaries — or he crossed the boundaries — he crossed the red lines of religion because of which a man attacked him,” Khawaja Asif said on Friday. The minister quoted the suspect as proof that Khan had brought the attack upon himself.
He began his speech by saying that the incident was a “Cause of embarrassment for the nation”.
“And we, the federal government, want that if there is a conspiracy behind it, then it should be brought to light,” he stated.
The defence minister stressed that “We should not refrain from taking any step that will prove to be helpful for us in this matter” and that the investigation into the incident and efforts to get to the bottom of the matter should not be politicised.
“Don’t let this incident fall victim to politics,” he reiterated, while adding, “They should go after the suspects, but all that they have been doing [demonstrates] that they are not interested in the investigation. They have made Rana Sanaullah, the prime minister and DGC the culprits.”
He recalled that Imran previously said he had contacts in the establishment. “And now those contacts are being named in the murder attempt [case],” the minister said. “By naming politicians and a senior army officer, they are taking the matter in a direction where they will not find any clue or suspect.”
Imran Khan was shot at thrice in Punjab’s Wazirabad on Thursday, November 3. The suspect, Naveed ,is in police custody and has confessed to the crime on a video where he says that he had planned to kill the former Prime Minister ever since his long march left Lahore.
