After days of speculation about a possible softening of his stance against the establishment, incarcerated former PM Imran Khan categorically said on Tuesday that his party was ready for talks with the military establishment.
Speaking to reporters at Adiala jail, the PTI founder laid down three preconditions: the return of his party’s ‘stolen mandate’, the release of all detained party workers, and the holding of transparent elections.
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Last week, Mr Khan had raised eyebrows when he tasked his sister Aleema and party leader Omar Ayub with ‘conveying messages’ to army chief Gen Asim Munir, asking him to ‘remain neutral’.
The duo had, in their remarks to the media, passed on Mr Khan’s warning that the Shehbaz government was trying to pit the army, PTI and the public against each other.
This had come as a surprise, as both Mr Khan and the party had been quite critical of the army chief and the military up to that point, especially in the wake of the arrest of party spokesperson Raoof Hasan and other social media activists over allegations of ‘digital terrorism’.
On Tuesday, Mr Khan said the country could be rescued from the ongoing crisis with a government that would come into power through free and fair elections.
Saying that Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s proposal to resign from the assemblies was one of the options, he made it clear that this contingency would be considered at the appropriate juncture.
He said the party had already nominated Mehmood Khan Achakzai — who leads the opposition alliance known as the Tehreek Tahaffuz Ayeen-i-Pakistan (TTAP) — to negotiate on their behalf, and urged the military to nominate their representatives for talks.
Claiming that his party had never levelled allegations against the army, he said that even a spoilt child was liable to criticism.
He recalled that Gen Ziaul Haq was behind the judicial murder of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, while Gen Yahya Khan was responsible for the fall of Dhaka.
Mr Khan also endorsed the stance taken by the Jamaat-i-Islami over an unprecedented hike in utility bills and also voiced support for Baloch activists, protesting for the recovery of missing persons.
Govt reaction
But the government did not take kindly to Mr Khan changing his tune and accused the PTI founder of pleading for talks with the army chief.
“The self-proclaimed revolutionary who used to say that he won’t ask for forgiveness, has come down to pleading to the armed forces to talk to him,” Punjab senior minister Marriyum Aurangzeb said in a statement.
She advised the former prime minister to tender an apology rather than seek an opportunity for talks, adding that his supporters had damaged statues of the army martyrs, attacked GHQ and an air base and torched the home of the Lahore corps commander.
“Seek forgiveness from the families of the martyrs for the sins of May 9 [attacks],” she said, adding the martyrs memorials were desecrated as part of an organised plan.
Meanwhile, Information Minister Atta Tarar termed Imran Khan’s call another conspiracy against the country, terming it another attempt by the PTI founder to drag state institutions into his “dirty politics”.
He wondered how Mr Khan changed his own stance on the concept of the neutrality of the institutions, saying that he went from his earlier stance of ‘I won’t let go’ to ‘Please talk to me’ quite quickly.
Mr Tarar believed that the call for talks was made as the PTI founder feared stern action against himself and his party, after the raid on their social media cell.
Both he and Ms Aurangzeb also lashed out at the former PM for the political victimisation of members of the Sharif family, with the former calling him a ‘brat’ and the latter branding him a ‘fascist’ who violates the Constitution for personal power.