Imran Khan claims to restrict the role of the military establishment

Imran Khan claims to restrict the role of the military establishment

Imran Khan led Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) stunned all the political forces when they displayed immense political power on the 30^th of October, 2011 at the Minar e Pakistan, Lahore. It was a visible proof of the fact that a
huge number of youngsters in the country are behind Imran Khan and they want to get rid of the on-going dynastic politics within the major political parties..

However, the other political parties, which have been shocked after the showcase of Imran’s popularity in Lahore, have started to claim that the establishment is behind the cricketer turned politician and this was the major reason behind
the successful public meeting last month.    

However, anyone who attended the procession knows that it was not establishment which brought people to Minar e Pakistan that day. In fact, it was that desperation for a change, which forced the masses in and around Lahore to come and cheer
for the former world cup winning captain.

For a change in Pakistan’s politics, the masses did not gather in a public meeting for any personal interest, neither were they bribed to attend the procession. People came on their own transport without any selfish demand.

Imran has also categorically denied the rumors that Army and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) is behind his ever-growing popularity in the country. On the contrary, the Chairman of PTI has stated that he would limit the influence of military
in the internal and external policies of the country.

In a recent television interview, Imran clearly mentioned that if he becomes the Prime Minster of Pakistan, he would not let the establishment dictate terms to him and the Chief of Army Staff and the ISI Chief would have to report to him.
In case of non-cooperation from the military establishment, Imran claimed that he will resign.

Imran said, "Unless I can implement my agenda – which means I take responsibility for everything that’s happening in Pakistan, it means that the army is under me, it means the ISI can do nothing unless it reports to me, it means that the
army’s budget is audited by a civilian setup, it means I take responsibility for anything that’s happening outside my country, it means I take responsibility that no terrorism will take place from Pakistani soil – otherwise, I would resign."

Let us hope that Imran sticks by his words and if/when he becomes the premier of Pakistan, he can limit the role of military in defining the interior and the foreign policies of the country.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=3306

Posted by Yasir Hashmi on Nov 12 2011. Filed under Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry