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Incarcerated former Pakistan Prime Minister and Tehreek-e-Insaf founder Imran Khan has said he "fully endorses" the resolve of the Army''s top brass for strict action against those responsible for May 9 violence, Dawn reported.
The army''s top brass vowed action against the culprits of May 9 violence during the 263rd Corps Commanders'' Conference (CCC), chaired by Pakistan''s Chief of Army Chief Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir. Talking to the media persons at Adiala Jail on Wednesday, Khan demanded that the culprits be identified through CCTV footage, citing the example of the United States where protesters were held for insurrection and attacking Capitol Hill with the help of security footage. The former Prime Minister, however, regretted that "no one was apparently interested" in an independent and fair probe into the May 9 violence "May 9 narrative could not work for Feb 8 [election]," he emphasised, adding that only three political parties were the beneficiaries of rigged elections. The PTI founder said he would never accept the results of the recent elections, as it would be tantamount to "accepting the slavery". He told the media that his party would hold a massive public gathering in Peshawar against alleged rigging on Sunday. He claimed that the Feb 8 general election was "the most rigged one in history" which would adversely affect the economy with the result that the public at large would suffer an ''irreparable loss''. "It was the stolen mandate of East Pakistan that was behind the 1971 tragedy," he said, adding that the "country could not survive without political stability", as reported by Dawn. Pakistan underwent general elections on February 8. But, the polls as well as the subsequent results drew strong criticism both domestically as well as internationally for the allegations of "lack of level playing field". Many political parties, especially Imran Khan-founded PTI complained of internet shutdown and "rigging". Massive protests erupted on May 9 last year after Imran Khan''s arrest in a graft case. The situation turned severe with protestors attacking the military installations. Speaking further, Imran Khan criticised the Election Commission for Pakistan (ECP) for depriving his party of reserved seats, terming the move "unconstitutional" and "contradictory to the democracy" and questioned the legal basis on which reserved seats were allocated to those parties that were not entitled. The former PM demanded an audit of four constituencies, including the Lahore constituencies of Nawaz Sharif and Aun Chaudhry and the one in Peshawar from where Noor Alam was declared the winner. Citing Khawaja Asif''s allegation that former army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa had asked the then-opposition to topple the PTI government. Khan further claimed General Bajwa had offered him a reward for ''behaving nicely'', but he rejected the offer, Dawn reported. Khan said the Sharifs were solely relying upon the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) for their future politics, but it alone could not attract foreign investment. He said the Sharifs had already changed their narrative. (ANI)
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