Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan on Friday claimed ownership of a controversial tweet comparing the current political situation to that of 1971, but maintained he had not seen the attached video and could not comment on it.
On May 26, a post and video were shared on Khan’s X account urging the public to “study” the Hamoodur Rahman Commission report and examine who among Gen. Yahya Khan or Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was the “true traitor.” The Federal Investigation Agency has initiated an inquiry into the post, alleging it was aimed at sowing dissent, and earlier this week questioned PTI leaders Gohar Ali Khan and Raoof Hasan in connection with the tweet.
On Friday, the FIA team also questioned Khan in the presence of his lawyers at Adiala Jail. Reportedly, Khan was shown the X post and the video and provided a list of 16 questions to answer. Sources claim he accepted responsibility for the contents of the post, but said the video was not approved by him and he would “change” some aspects of it if he had reviewed it in advance.
Earlier, speaking with journalists after attending proceedings into £190 million corruption charge at the accountability court at Adiala Jail, Khan regretted branding PMLN leader Nawaz Sharif a “traitor” over his comments on the Hamoodur Rahman Commission Report. He told journalists he had not read the report at the time and agreed on the need for the public to read it after perusing it himself.
According to the PTI founder, the report suggested measures to avoid mistakes that led to the fall of Dhaka and also fixed responsibility for them. He claimed the commission had held Gen. Yahya responsible for doing all this to regain power. He alleged the country was going through a similar situation and sought to link it to an economic downturn. He further claimed amendments to NAB laws by the PDM government had caused Rs. 1,100 billion loss to the national exchequer in the form of loss of “recoveries” by the anti-graft body.
To a question on the Supreme Court urging him to open dialogue with rival political parties, Khan said he did not agree with the suggestion. Recalling he had also only talked to then-president Pervez Musharraf’s representative, he said he prefer to negotiate with the “powerbrokers” directly rather than their “proxies.”