ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman and former prime minister Imran Khan on Thursday asked President Arif Alvi to order an immediate inquiry against former chief of army staff General (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa for “violating his oath and Constitution of Pakistan.”
In a letter dated Feb 14, Imran Khan referred to an article of journalist Javed Chaudhry in which startling revelations were made attributing General (retd) Bajwa.
“Some very disturbing information has now come into the public domain whereby it is clear that Gen retd Bajwa as COAS violated his oath of office repeatedly,” the PTI chief stated in a letter written to the president on Thursday.
“He [Mr Bajwa] has admitted to journalist Javed Ch that ‘we’ (and it would be critical to ascertain from him who was the ‘we’ in reference to) considered Imran Khan dangerous to the country if he continued to stay in power,” Khan told the President in the letter.
“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’. Only the people through elections can decide who they want to elect as PM.”
سابق آرمی چیف جنرل قمر جاوید باجوہ کی جانب سے بطور آرمی چیف کی پے در پے حلف کی خلاف ورزیوں کا معاملہ
چئیرمین پاکستان تحریک انصاف عمران خان نے جنرل قمر جاوید باجوہ کے خلاف فوری تحقیقات کا مطالبہ کر دیا 1/2 pic.twitter.com/J0bmuxzEys
— PTI (@PTIofficial) February 16, 2023
“Taking such a right on himself is in clear violation of his oath as given in Third Schedule Article 244 of the Constitution,” he stressed.
In the letter, Imran also mentioned Gen Bajwa’s alleged admission that he “managed to get NAB (National Accountability Bureau) case against Shaukat Tarin dismissed”.
“Regardless of the merits of his claims in this case, he has also admitted he managed to get NAB case against Shaukat Tarin dismissed revealing that NAB was under his control – again a clear violation of the Constitutional oath because the army itself is a department under the Ministry of Defence and civilian official autonomous institutions do not come military control,” Khan wrote.
Imran Khan, who is currently facing multiple cases in different courts, said that it was the Constitutional duty of the President and as 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”.