Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Thursday urged Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial to form a “powerful” inquiry team to investigate the Nov. 3 shooting at Wazirabad, maintaining he did not expect justice otherwise.
In a video statement, he said he was reiterating his demand for a Supreme Court-backed probe, as he had no other hope for justice because “powerful people will not allow the investigation to take place.” Throughout the video, Khan repeatedly hinted—without directly naming—at the involvement of the armed forces in the attack on his long march, stressing that there were “black sheep” in every institution, regardless of its overall services to the nation.
Reiterating his allegations of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif being the “main” plotters of the assassination attempt, he claimed what was more worrying was that the “defenders of the country”—a reference to the Army—had also been involved and were now covering it up. “Since I know the perpetrators of the attack and have been talking about the whole plan in public meetings besides recording a video naming the four people responsible for the assassination plots against me, I am baffled … at the mindset that allows a country’s savior to go against its interests,” he said, reiterating claims that he had been “informed” by “state agencies” that there was a plan underway to assassinate him.
Only “anti-Pakistan” elements could hatch this plan, he alleged, not someone assigned to protect the country’s borders and interests. “Now, I want the person who planned to have me killed to cooperate with the JIT. These people are intentionally obstructing justice,” he alleged.
Primary accused
Discussing the primary accused, Naveed, Khan questioned how his confessional statement was leaked to journalists and TV channels “who work against the PTI” even before he had reached hospital—2 hours away—for treatment of his injuries. Claiming that Naveed had been “programmed” to say that he was working alone, he alleged this was aimed at giving the attack the cover of “religious fanaticism.”
Citing a polygraph test, he alleged that Naveed was a trained shooter, adding that he could ascertain this because he had practiced shooting himself. He further alleged that police were not cooperating with the JIT and it must be clarified who was responsible for this. “Instead of helping the JIT find out who was behind the attempt on my life, many key persons are not cooperating at the behest of the federal government,” he claimed.
Outlining a series of questions, Khan then asked: “Who were the people creating hurdles in the investigation? Who were the people who did not record the statements?” He reiterated that as the victim he had the right to get a first information report (FIR) registered against the people he believed were responsible but police—under a government comprising the PTI and PMLQ—had denied this.
The PTI chief also reiterated claims earlier voiced by Chaudhry Fawad Hussain that the JIT had found evidence of three shooters rather than one. This has been repeatedly denied by the government.
After claiming in November that he no longer blamed the U.S. administration for the widely-debunked “regime change conspiracy” that saw his government’s ouster, Khan on Thursday returned to the played out narrative, claiming he knew how the loyalties of PTI lawmakers were changed at the U.S. embassy.
Government responds
In a statement issued after Khan’s allegations, Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb dismissed his remarks as a “pack of lies” that were based on a “narrative of helplessness.” The PTI has governments in Punjab, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, she noted, questioning how Khan could still complain of “helplessness.”
Khan was wounded in the leg on Nov. 3 after being hit by bullet fragments and metal shards when Naveed opened fire on his container during the PTI’s long march on Islamabad. Following the incident, the PTI briefly suspended its long march, before resuming it without Khan’s participation. However, the march never reached the federal capital, concluding on Nov. 27 in Rawalpindi, where the PTI chief announced he would dissolve the Punjab and KP assemblies—a plan that has yet to be fulfilled.