The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has dismissed media reports regarding incarcerated party founder Imran Khan’s alleged “confessional remarks” admitting to calling for a protest outside the General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi before his May 9 arrest.
“[Imran] Khan didn’t say what is being reported in the media […] we [categorically] deny this,” said senior party leader Asad Qaiser during a talk show on a private news channel.
The former National Assembly speaker’s dismissal comes after media reports suggested that Khan, while speaking to journalists during a hearing inside Adiala jail, acknowledged he had called for a peaceful protest outside the GHQ in response to the “attack” on his Zaman Park residence by law enforcers.
Khan has been embroiled in a series of cases for his alleged involvement in the May 9 riots, which were triggered by his arrest in a graft case. These riots saw several military and state installations, including the Lahore Corps Commander’s residence, being vandalised. The government, both the then and the incumbent one, has repeatedly blamed Khan and PTI’s senior leadership for orchestrating these allegedly “organised” attacks on military installations.
Despite securing relief in some other cases, the former prime minister still faces as many as 12 cases related to the May 9 incidents, which are being heard by an Anti-Terrorism Court. Of the 12 cases, five were registered at Sarwar Road Police Station, three at Gulberg Police Station, and one each at Race Course, Shadman, Mughalpura, and Model Town police stations.
Countering the media reports on Khan’s remarks, Qaiser emphasized that lawyers present at Adiala jail during Khan’s interaction with journalists have denied the attributed statement. “Intezar Panjutha, during a press conference, has said that he was with Khan and that the comments attributed to him were not true,” Qaiser noted.
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