Imran urges president to order inquiry against former COAS Bajwa

PTI chairman alleges former army chief violated his oath by interfering in politics, controlling NAB, etc.

ISLAMABAD:

Former prime minister Imran Khan has urged President Dr Arif Alvi to order an inquiry against the former chief of army staff (COAS) Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa on charges of allegedly violating his oath by interfering in politics and controlling the country's anti-graft body, among other things.

In a letter written to the president on February 14, the former premier and PTI chief requested the president, being the supreme commander of the armed forces, to institute an inquiry against the ex-military czar for admitting that he considered the ex-premier 'dangerous for the country' and recorded tapes of his confidential conversations.

The PTI chief, while referring to a column of journalist Javed Chaudhry and a video log of TV host Aftab Iqbal, implied that the revelations made in both pieces make it clear that the ex-army chief violated his oath and an inquiry could authenticate the same.

Imran also questioned Gen Bajwa’s role in managing the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), saying “the army itself is a department under the Ministry of Defence and civilian official autonomous institutions do not come under military control”.

The then-opposition accused NAB of carrying out political victimization in the guise of 'accountability' but the ex-premier has now alleged that it was the army chief who was allegedly controlling NAB. Also, in 2020, the PTI government had proudly taken credit of NAB’s performance as it had included it in its two-year performance report.

Read I drew flak while Bajwa called the shots: Imran

In the letter, Imran has informed the president that some “very disturbing information” has now come into the public domain whereby it is clear that Gen Bajwa as COAS violated his oath of office repeatedly. “In view of the violations identified below,” Imran stated, “I would request you as supreme commander of the armed forces to institute an immediate inquiry against him.”

Subsequently, Imran said that Bajwa has admitted to journalist Javed Chaudhry that "we" (and it would be critical to ascertain from him who the "we" was in reference to) considered Imran dangerous to the country if he continued to stay in power.

“The question that arises is who gave him the power to decide that an elected PM was supposedly a 'danger to the country if he continued to stay in power,'" Imran questioned. “Only the people, through elections, can decide who they want to elect as PM,” he added, “taking such a right on himself is in clear violation of his oath as given in Third Schedule Article 244 of the constitution.”

In addition, Imran maintained that regardless of the merits of Bajwa’s claims in this case, he has also admitted that “he managed to get the NAB case against Shaukat Tarin dismissed, revealing that NAB was under his control”. Again, Imran pointed out that this is a clear violation of the constitutional oath as the army is a department under the defence ministry and civilian official autonomous institutions do not fall under the military’s control.

Moreover, Imran while referring to Aftab Iqbal's vlog stated that Gen Bajwa told Iqbal in a conversation that he had tapes of the then PM Imran Khan's conversations with him. “This is a serious violation again of his oath and a violation of fundamental human rights,” Imran told the president, “the question is why and under what authorization was Gen Bajwa recording confidential conversations?”

Read more Bajwa’s Russia bashing meant to please US: Imran

Additionally, Imran continued, “another serious violation of his oath was committed when General Bajwa publicly went against the then government’s policy of maintaining neutrality in the Russia-Ukraine war.” Imran recalled that Bajwa did it at an international conference in Islamabad on April 2, 2022 – the Islamabad Security Conference.

Imran pointed out that the government’s policy was arrived at after developing a consensus of all stakeholders, including the ministry of foreign affairs, and retired diplomats who had the relevant experience and were area specialists.

Lastly, Imran contended that Chapter II of the Constitution describes the mandate of the armed forces and specifically refers to Articles 243 (Command of Armed Forces) and 244 (Oath of Armed Forces).

Therefore, he urged, “it is your constitutional duty as president and supreme commander of the armed forces to take immediate action and institute an inquiry so as to establish whether such grave violations of the constitution and oath of office under the constitution have taken place.”

Though the letter was written on February 14, the official at the presidency said that no action has so far been taken and details would be shared with the media when any action takes place.