Former Pak PM Imran Khan demands probe in May 9 violence, Feb 8 polls

Jailed former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan once again on Wednesday demanded a judicial probe into the May 9 violence and the February 8 elections, urging Supreme Court Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa to hear the petitions filed by his party on the two issues.

Khan, 71, while speaking to journalists after attending a court hearing in the 190 million pound corruption case, said the establishment was using the May 9 violence following his arrest in a corruption case as a pretext to dismantle his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party.

Khan claimed that the plot to dismantle his party was hatched in London by the now-ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party and urged Chief Justice Isa to set up a judicial commission to probe the matter, Dawn News reported.

Khan's supporters resorted to violence, burning civil and military installations following his arrest by the National Corruption Bureau (NCB) outside the Islamabad High Court premised in a corruption case. The May 9 violence, also dubbed as the "Black Day" violence was used as a pretext to arrest thousands of Khan's supporters and his party leaders across the country.

The culprits could have been identified through CCTV footage, but these have been stolen. Those behind the footage theft were responsible for the May 9 episode, the PTI chief said.
 

Khan alleged that the closure of cases related to the Sharif family and President Asif Ali Zardari was a part of the London plan.

He said the PTI would not consider the Senate elections legitimate because the National Assembly was a product of rigged exercise in the first place.

In reply to a question about the hearing in US Congress on the cipher controversy last week, the PTI chief said it would have been a disaster for the Biden administration had Donald Lu, the US diplomat, stated that Washington supported the ouster of his government.

Lu did not disclose facts before the Congress hearing since it would have been damaging for the Biden administration, the cricketer-turned-politician claimed.

Khan said Asad Majeed, Pakistan's former ambassador in Washington, had informed the National Security Committee about the threatening tone of Lu.

The jailed former prime minister said he was not responsible for the security of the cipher (secret diplomatic communication) as a protocol was in place for the safe keeping of secret documents.

He rejected the Election Commission of Pakistan's investigation into allegations of rigging and said the ECP could not carry out an impartial probe since it had conducted the exercise.

Separately, Khan's wife Bushra Bibi told the media that Khan was in good physical and mental health in jail.

She, however, also said the Chief of Army Staff General Syed Asim Munir, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) head Nadeem Anjum, and the chief of the Counter Terrorism Department would be responsible if anything happened to her husband.

The nation will not tolerate such an incident, she said.