Imran asks PM if military officers 'above law'

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan on Monday questioned if military officers were above the law after Prime Minister Shehbaz lambasted him for ‘routinely maligning [the] Pakistan army and intelligence agency’.

PM Shehbaz, in a tweet, stated that Imran “routinely maligning and threatening [the] Pakistan army and intelligence agency for the sake of petty political gains was highly condemnable”.

“His levelling of allegations without any proof against Gen Faisal Naseer and officers of our intelligence agency cannot be allowed and will not be tolerated,” Shehbaz said.

With a screenshot of the incumbent premier’s tweet, Imran said if he can "dare" to ask the prime minister if he, a citizen "who suffered two assassination attempts on his life in [the] last few months", had the right to nominate those he thought “responsible” for the assassination attacks.

“Why was I denied my legal and Constitutional right to register an FIR?” he asked in a series of tweets. Imran further questioned if the premier’s tweets meant military officers “were above the law or that they cannot commit a crime”.

“If we allege one of them has committed a crime, how is [the] institution being maligned?”

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The ousted prime minister also questioned who was “powerful” enough to “sabotage” the joint investigation team (JIT) probing the Wazirabad incident while the PTI was still in “power in Punjab”.

Moreover, Imran asked if Shehbaz could answer “why the ISI took over [the] ICT Judicial Complex"  prior to his appearance on March 18, and why the 'ISI personnel' were in the garb of the counter-terrorism department and lawyers.

“What was [the] motive and what business did ISI have in the complex?”

He continued that when PM Shehbaz answered his questions “truthfully”, all signs would point to “one powerful man and his accomplices being above the law”.

“Then it is time for us to officially declare that in Pakistan there is only law of the jungle where might is right,” he said.

PM Shehbaz's tweet came on the heels of a statement from Pakistan People's Party (PPP) leader and former president Asif Ali Zardari, who criticised Imran for repeatedly levelling allegations against the senior army official, saying that allegations against the army officials were actually an attack on the army.

Zardari said that attacks on the military could not be tolerated. “The allegations against the brave and distinguished officers of the Pakistan Army, including Maj-Gen Faisal, are actually an attack on the institution with which the whole of Pakistan stands,” he said.

“This is the country where we all have to be buried; we will not allow one person to play with our values and our country,” he added. “A person is bent on destroying my ancestors, my children and my country, which we will not allow.”

Calling Imran a “foreign agent” and predicting his downfall, Zardari said that “a person is fooling his innocent workers” with lies and deceit, adding: “I see the downfall of this person.”