Imran Khan, Pakistan’s former prime minister, has claimed that top ISI official Major-General Faisal Naseer, who twice attempted to kill him, was also involved in the savage murder of senior journalist Arshad Sharif.
Khan made the remarks while speaking at a rally in Lahore from his bullet-proof car. The rally was streamed live in other cities through a video link.
“Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI)’s Major-General Faisal Naseer tried to kill me twice and he is also involved in the killing of (TV anchor) Arshad Sharif. He also stripped my party Senator Azam Swati naked and inflicted severe torture on him,” Pakistan-Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Khan said.
Arshad Sharif, a critic of the Army, was assassinated in Kenya last October when he fled the nation alleging security agency threats to his life.
The assassination of an investigative journalist by Kenyan police sparked uproar in Pakistan.
In an initial report, Kenyan police stated that the 49-year-old was shot dead in a moving vehicle due to mistaken identity.
Khan, 71, had previously accused Gen Naseer, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, and Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah of attempting to assassinate him in November last year in Punjab province’s Wazirabad, where he was shot three times in the leg.
“This man (Gen Naseer) has been involved in atrocities against my party persons for the last 20 months but no one at his institution is bothered about it. No person who loves Pakistan can do what this man is doing,” the cricketer-turned-politician said, indirectly asking incumbent Army Chief General Asim Munir why he does not take action against this ISI personnel.
The PTI chief asked the nation to come out on roads against the ‘mafia rulers and their handlers (elements in the military establishment)’.
“Despite these murder plans, I am protesting on the roads for the sake of this country. It is your duty to join me because it is not politics but jehad — fight for real freedom is never politics,” he said.
Khan said his party will organize rallies from next week till May 14 to demand elections in Punjab.
Also read: Arshad Sharif murder: JIT submits report in Supreme Court
