Imran Khan, the former prime minister and chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), discussed his friendship with Qamar Javed Bajwa, the COAS, in an exclusive interview with Dawn.
“The army chief urged me to name Aleem Khan [as the CM of Punjab], but I refused. Because in addition to NAB cases against him, he had also taken possession of and sold millions of dollars worth of government-owned land,” Imran Khan claimed while describing how his reputedly close relationship with the Chief soured.
“We’ve always assumed they’re just accusations. And he stood up for himself. However, when I inquired about Aleem with the deputy chairman of the LDA, he showed me on a map how Aleem Khan had taken over public property. When asked why he included Aleem in his party,” Khan responded that it was near the conclusion of his second year in office and the start of his third.
“They were well-organized, you could enlist their assistance, and our foreign policy positions were congruent. The problem of them striking agreements with these criminals when they ought to be in jail only came up in the last six months,” he continued.
Imran Khan mentioned Nawaz Sharif, a former prime minister who also clashed with the establishment. Prior to my taking office, the army was pursuing these individuals. 95% of these cases were filed before my administration. He would not have been found guilty in the Nawaz Sharif or Avenfield cases, which were before me if the army had not sent the two brigadiers to the JITs.
Imran insisted that his relationship with the army was “going well,” even though he acknowledged that he is unaware of the internal politics of the force. However, he added, “Later, I discovered there was a big issue going on about the next army chief. Why would I care if the army chief is chosen on merit, which I had never given attention to? It should be the ideal candidate. The Sharifs and Zardari care about it, but I don’t.
Imran continued, saying “NAB was controlled by the army,” and that he hoped the Army would support it in its efforts to establish the rule of law in the nation. Nothing could be done by me. Yes, there are examples, and they would respond; “we are working on it.” However, nothing would occur. I learned that NAB was truly under the hands of the establishment, which ran things how it pleased. Keeping records of their corruption was intended to control politicians. Someone would be squeezed, but he would soon be released on bail.
General Faiz was the only general I knew because he was working with me as the ISI chief, Khan stated in response to claims that he is his guy. Moreover, I was the only one I knew. I told Gen. Bajwa, “I will follow your advice because I don’t know the other guys,” but at the moment, Afghanistan was my main concern. I thought there would be a civil war. And I believed that Americans would hold us accountable and punish us. There are 300,000 Afghan soldiers, according to Ashraf Ghani, therefore they will be outnumbered. Not just Ashraf Ghani warned us that civil conflict will break out in Afghanistan. I wanted Gen Faiz to stay until the transfer was complete in the winter,” he said.
