Pakistan's former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan on Friday blamed the army chief for his “abduction” on May 9 and distanced himself from violence that took place in several cities after his arrest.
He expressed these views while having brief conversation with media persons on the premises of Islamabad High Court, reports Dawn.
Talking to BBC correspondent Caroline Davies during a break time, Khan said: “It’s not the security agencies. It’s one man, the army chief. There is no democracy in the army. The army is getting maligned with what is happening,” he replied when asked about the impression that security agencies were against him whereas the judiciary was favouring him.
“And he [the army chief] is worried that if I come to power, I will de-notify him. Which, I tried my best to send him a message, I will not. All this is happening is direct orders from him. He is the one who is convinced that if I win, he will be de-notified,” alleged Khan.
The ex-premier also talked about victimisation of his party by the government, alleging that “5,000 people have been arrested during the last one year”. He said he had survived two assassination attempts and had only called for an investigation, regretting that his demand had been rejected.
Responding to a question by Quratul Ain Sheerazi of the Independent Urdu that he had got a relief from the Supreme Court which had never been provided to any other politician, Mr Khan said how it could be called a relief when he was still sitting in the court.
“I am sitting in the Islamabad High Court. They had no justification to arrest me. I was abducted. They showed me warrant for the first time after taking me to jail. This happens only where there is a law of jungle and where army abducts [people],” he said.
“Where is the law? Where are the police? It seems that martial law has been declared [in the country],” he said.
Reiterating his position which he took in the Supreme Court on Thursday evening, Mr Khan said he was totally unaware of the developments which took place after his arrest and claimed that he had learnt that 40 people had lost their lives during the two-day protests.
Expressing sadness over the events that took place when he was in the custody of NAB, Mr Khan stated that “the army is getting maligned because of just one man”.
During the informal chat, Khan alleged that he was tortured and hit by a baton on his head at the time of his arrest. He, however, described his treatment while he was in custody of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) as “fair”.
Khan said that what happened after his arrest was beyond his control.
“How could I be blamed for those incidents that happened while I was in custody?” he wondered while responding to his critics who were blaming him for violent protests and damage to the private and public property during the countrywide agitation.
Khan also talked to Geo reporter Azaz Syed about his leaked telephonic conversation with party leader Musarrat Jamshed Cheema, stating that he had made the call with a landline number after his arrest as the court had allowed him to talk to his wife Bushra Bibi.
When the reporter put another question as to why instead of talking to his wife, he talked to a PTI member, Khan said he called Musarrat as his wife did not attend the call.
The PTI chief made some interesting comments when he came face to face with senior journalist Matiullah Jan, who was a harsh critic of the PTI government’s policies and got prominence when he was abducted by unknown persons in broad daylight in Islamabad when Khan was in power.
Khan told the journalist that he as prime minister had ordered for his immediate release during a cabinet meeting when he learnt about his abduction.
Returns home after arrest, riots
Imran Khan arrived at his Lahore residence on Saturday after being freed on bail following days of legal drama and nationwide riots over his arrest on corruption charges.
Khan was swooped on by dozens of paramilitary troops and arrested during a routine court appearance on Tuesday, triggering violent clashes in several cities between his supporters and security forces.
His detention came just hours after he was rebuked by the powerful military, whom he once again accused of being involved in an assassination attempt against him last year.
The arrest on court premises as he prepared to file a bail application was declared unlawful on Thursday by the Supreme Court, which kept Khan in custody until Friday — when he was granted two weeks' bail in the corruption case.
Islamabad High Court also ordered Khan could not be arrested before Monday in any case.
Khan has become entangled in a slew of legal allegations — a frequent hazard for opposition figures in Pakistan — since he was ousted from power in April last year.
"The head of the country's largest party was abducted, kidnapped from the high court, and in front of the entire nation," Khan told AFP from the court building.
"They treated me like a terrorist, this had to have a reaction," he said of the protests that followed.
Khan eventually left the heavily guarded court late Friday, hours after his hearings had ended and as protesters a few kilometres away clashed with police, who responded with tear gas. Shots were also fired towards officers, police said.
Thousands arrested
Several thousand of his supporters have rampaged through cities in protest of Khan's detention since Tuesday, setting fire to buildings, blocking roads and clashing with police outside military installations.
At least nine people died in the unrest, police and hospitals said.
Hundreds of police officers were injured and more than 4,000 people detained, mostly in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces, according to authorities.
Faisal Hussain Chaudhry, a lawyer for Khan, said on Friday that 10 senior PTI leaders had been arrested.
The interior minister has vowed to re-arrest Khan, who remains wildly popular ahead of elections due in October.
Mobile data services and access to social media platforms including Facebook and YouTube, which were cut shortly after Khan's arrest on Tuesday, were gradually being restored around the country.
Khan has launched an unprecedented campaign of defiance against the military, which independent analysts say helped him rise and fall from power.
