Daily Times

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur on Saturday stated that the public is now convinced the incumbent rulers came to power riding the shoulders of the “state institutions”, which should become “neutral” for the country to move forward.

His statement resonated with incarcerated Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan’s message conveyed by his sister Aleema Khan to media, after meeting him in the Adiala jail a day ago. Aleema quoted Imran as saying to the military: “We can only request you that for the country’s sake you become neutral. You stay neutral and let the country move forward and make progress on its own.”

According to her, Imran told his family that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) were morally bankrupt and the incumbent government was advertently trying to pit the PTI and armed forces against each other to achieve its political motives.

“Imran said the military is the backbone of Pakistan,” Aleema quoted her brother as saying. She also said the PTI founder had approached the court to prevent his handover to the army.

Aleema claimed that multiple offers had been made to send the former prime minister abroad, but he was determined to stay in Pakistan and ensure that the military and people were not pitted against each other.

“How will the country move forward without the rule of law and democracy? Businesses have been destroyed, and people are leaving the country,” she quoted Imran as saying, emphasising his appeal to the military to stay neutral.

On the other hand, Adviser to Chief Minister on Information Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif said the PML-N was trying to save its fake government as Federal Minister for Information & Broadcasting AttaullahTarar was giving misleading statements. Saif said the federal government was trying to create misunderstandings between the security institutions and masses.