Imran Khan recalls Bangladesh liberation, Osama's killing to slam Pakistan Army

Pakistan's former prime minister Imran Khan, in his first address after his arrest earlier this week, slammed what he termed his "illegal abduction" from the Islamabad High Court. Khan evoked the country's division from East Pakistan- present-day Bangladesh- and recalled the ethnic massacre of Bengali people committed by theArmy following an election scandal in the late 1960s.

"Our 90,000 troops surrendered," Khan said, while referring to the largest surrender since the Second World War in 1971, against India-supported advances of Bangladesh's liberation front named Mukti Bahini in the erstwhile East Pakistan.

"This [repression] did not work then [in the run-up to Bangladesh's creation]. It will not work now," Imran Khan said.

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The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf [PTI] leader also recalled the US special forces' operation that killed al-Qaeda terrorist chief Osama bin Laden in May 2011.

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"You cannot imagine what Pakistanis abroad went through when Osama was killed in Abbottabad. I defended the army then," Khan said, while referring to Pakistan Army's accusation that Khan's political acts had been maligning the country's military forces.

Khan was released on Friday after Supreme Court termed his arrest illegal and directed the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader to approach the high court to seek bail.

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"Why the Rangers had to arrest me?," Khan said, referring to his May 9 arrest by Pakistan Rangers, the country's key paramilitary force. "It was the task for Islamabad Police. Why the army had to arrest me?," Khan added.

In Pakistan, the military-intelligence nexus, collectively dubbed as 'establishment',continues to be a powerful force of significance in and beyond country's political affairs. It still is responsible for all civilian administration appointments and promotions, a power given to it by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif soon after he replaced Imran Khan from Islamabad's corridors of power after a no-confidence vote in April 2022.

"Today, our democracy is hanging by a thread and the judiciary can save it. Thismafia is going all out in attacking the judiciary," Khan said, while referring to his arrest in Islamabadon May 9.

"Secondly, I am also thankful to the public that came out, the ones who were peaceful, because my supporters, voters and workers have always remained peaceful in our 27 years of politics," Imran Khan said.

Referring to a shooting incident in which he was injured in November 2023, Khan said: "I know that a plan was devised to kill me."

"I know the names of all the actors involved in it, from top to bottom. I know who gave the green light. I know who gave the green light to the person I name. And colluding with them were two civilians — Shehbaz Sharif and Rana Sanaullah," Khan said, while accusingPrime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and interior minister Rana Sanaullah of being part of a plot to assassinate him.

Khan called upon the Pakistani citizens to come out of their homes on the evening of May 14, with a placard, stating,"Haqiqi azadi. Ain bachao. Pakistan bachao." [Essential freedom (rooted in Islamic philosophy), Save Democracy, Save Pakistan].

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