Khan Letter to Alvi, Demands ‘Immediate Inquiry’ Against General Bajwa

Khan urges President to investigate Gen. Bajwa for oath violations.

Imran Khan listed four ways in which the former army chief allegedly violated the Constitution in a letter to Arif Alvi dated February 14, while also referring to Gen Bajwa’s alleged remarks published on February 9 in a column by Javed Chaudhry as purported evidence for his claim.

Shireen Mazari, the PTI’s leader, also announced her party chief’s decision on Twitter, posting images of the letter.

Gen. Bajwa had “confessed to writer Javed Chaudhry that ‘we’ deemed Imran Khan [to be] hazardous to the country if he continued to stay in power,” according to Imran’s account of Chaudhry’s column, which he cited.

It would be “important to ascertain,” he continued, who Gen Bajwa was referring to when he said, “we.” Who gave Gen. Bajwa the authority to declare that an elected prime minister (Imran) posed a threat to the nation if he remained in office? enquired the former leader.

The PTI leader said, “Only the people, via elections, can pick who they wish to elect as prime minister.

Taking such a right on himself is a clear violation of his oath, as stated in the Third Schedule of the Constitution, Article 244.”

Imran then cited what he claimed to be Gen Bajwa’s statement that he “managed to get NAB (National Accountability Bureau) case against Shaukat Tarin dismissed.”

The army itself is a department under the Ministry of Defence, and civilian official autonomous institutions (NAB) do not come [under] military control, according to him, so this showed that the NAB was under the former army chief’s “control.” This was “again a clear violation of the Constitutional oath,” he claimed.

The former prime minister then referred to a YouTube vlog by journalist Aftab Iqbal. “Gen Bajwa told him (Iqbal) in conversation that he had tapes of then-PM Imran Khan’s conversations with him,” he said.

The PTI chairman described it as a “serious violation” of the former army chief’s oath and his own fundamental human rights. “The question is, why and with what authority was Gen Bajwa recording confidential conversations?” he inquired.

Finally, Imran mentioned his February visit to Russia, which was labeled “controversial” because it occurred during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

He said Gen Bajwa once again committed a “serious violation of his oath” when he “publicly went against the then government’s policy of maintaining neutrality in the Russia-Ukraine war”.

“He (Gen Bajwa) did this in Islamabad on April 2, 2022, at the Islamabad Security Conference,” the former prime minister claimed.

“The government policy was reached after developing consensus among all stakeholders, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and retired diplomats with relevant experience and area specialists,” Imran stated.

Imran cited Chapter II of the Constitution, which “describes the mandate of the armed forces and specifically refers to Articles 243 and 244”, to remind Alvi that it was his “constitutional duty as President and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces to take immediate action and institute an inquiry.”

He demanded that an inquiry be initiated to “establish whether such grave violations of the Constitution and oath of Office under the Constitution have taken place”.

The development is the latest in a long line of squabbles between Imran and Gen Bajwa, who once claimed they were on the same page. The former premier and ex-army chief’s relationship strained after the PTI government was deposed in April last year.

In an interview with Voice of America Urdu, which aired on February 10, Imran also made his demand for an internal military investigation into Gen. Bajwa known.

In his final public address as army chief, Gen Bajwa admitted that the army had “unconstitutionally interfered in politics” for seven decades.

He stated that the military’s interference in politics would continue until February 2021, after which the military would thoroughly deliberate on the matter and decide to stay out of politics.

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