Establishment contacted Imran Khan pre-polls: Former Defense Secretary

Lt-General (retd) Naeem Khalid Lodhi – the former secretary of defense – said that the military establishment had contacted Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan but there was no outcome.

According to the media reports, the retired general stated that he was aware that the establishment had made indirect contact with the former prime minister Imran Khan, albeit he did not specify when the two had spoken. He said that the PTI founder should acknowledge that he was responsible for the May 9 attacks, offer an apology, and pledge that he would never carry out another act of this nature in the future.

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Imran Khan’s arrest in the £190 million settlement case brought to rioting nearly all across the nation on May 9. A large number of PTI employees and executives were imprisoned due to their involvement in acts of violence and assaults on military sites. Miscreants targeted military and governmental installations, including the General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi and Jinnah House in Lahore, during the protests. The protestors were to be tried under the Army Act after the military dubbed May 9th “Black Day”.

According to Lodhi, Khan responded by saying he never planned the May 9 attacks, denouncing burning and hooliganism, and promising to make sure those responsible were expelled from the PTI. He added that while he was not aware of any communication between the two since the election, he believed that such initiatives might be possible.

The former defense secretary went on to say that rather than attacking the Pakistan Army, the previous prime minister and the PTI should embrace its institutional reality. In the greatest interests of Pakistan, he continued, the military establishment ought to acknowledge the PTI as the country’s most well-liked political force and open the door for some reconciliation.