‘No one will be allowed to defame us’: Army lashes out at Imran Khan

Former Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has named PM Shehbaz Sharif, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah and an army officer, Major General Faisal Naseer, as the conspirators behind the assassination attempt on him in Wazirabad.

The Chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has also demanded resignations from all three.

Following the accusations, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) condemned the allegations and said: “The baseless and irresponsible allegations by chairman PTI against the institution and particularly a senior army officer are absolutely unacceptable and uncalled for.”

Calling PTI chief Imran Khan’s allegations regrettable, the ISPR said honour and safety of its rank and file were being “tarnished by vested interests”. The institution will safeguard its officers and soldiers no matter what, the statement read.

“No one will be allowed to defame the institution or its soldiers with impunity. Keeping this in view, the government of Pakistan has been requested to investigate the matter and initiate legal action against those responsible for defamation and false accusations against the institution and its officials without any evidence whatsoever,” added the army’s military wing in the statement.

From the government’s side, federal ministers also called out Khan for accusing institutions without any evidence.

Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb said, “Not only was Imran Khan making false accusations without any evidence, but the fact is that the attacker was in Punjab police’s custody and investigation was the responsibility of the Punjab government, not the federal government.”

“For Almighty’s sake, I plead not to play the religion card. This is a dangerous path and could lead to serious consequences,” she stressed.

Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said that Khan is a compulsive liar and said his whole media talk on Friday was nothing more than “baseless allegations”.

In a press conference, the minister also said it is “very saddening” that Khan has named people for his attempted assassination without any investigation or proof.

The minister added that the attack on the PTI march is an incident of religious extremism. However, he was of the view that, “PTI’s attitude towards the incident is also regrettable and condemnable.”