Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) leader Khawaja Saad Rafique on Saturday accused former Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Qamar Javed Bajwa and ex-Chief Justice Pakistan (CJP) Saqib Nisar of being involved in his imprisonment during Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) led government.
Addressing a seminar to commemorate his father Khawaja Muhammad Rafique’s death anniversary in Lahore, Rafique said, “It was not Imran Khan who sent me to jail but General Qamar Javed Bajwa and Saqib Nisar.”
While questioning why their names were not highlighted, the senior PML-N leader, in the same breath, answered that their names should be addressed. “It’s not acceptable that politicians face [accountability], but the ex-army chief, after creating all the mess, keeps playing golf,” he added.
Highlighting political polarisation in the country, Rafique accused founder PTI Imran Khan, ex-CJP Saqib Nisar, and former COAS Qamar Javed Bajwa, of turning the charter of democracy upside down, adding that the trio have “changed the direction of the country.”
Moreover, He took aim at PTI for believing in the politics of long marches, saying, “We neither toppled the PPP government, nor PPP topple our government through long marches.”
Commenting on ongoing negotiations between PTI and Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif-led government, the PML-N leader expressed optimism about the success of the dialogue.
He praised the incumbent government’s effort to prevent the country from economic meltdown, adding, “The government and Pakistan army have made a joint effort to prevent the country from defaulting.”
The former Minister of Railways and Aviation explained that the newly elected United States (US) administration of Donald Trump has no interest in former premier Imran Khan’s release, noting that the US is concerned about Pakistan’s atomic programme and ballistic missiles programme.
Earlier, PML-N bigwig Khawaja Saad Rafique hit back at US President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Envoy for Special Missions, Richard Grenell, over his persistent social media posts advocating for the release of Imran Khan.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Thursday, Rafique called out Grenell over his hypocrisy, saying, “His [Richard Grenell] conscience has been sleeping since the 2018 election theft to the dark period of political revenge and long imprisonment of opposition leaders.”
The PML-N leader, who remained imprisoned during Imran Khan’s tenure, reminded Grenell that the elected government of ex-PM Nawaz Sharif in Pakistan was overthrown by the “collusion of the establishment, the judiciary and Imran Khan’s party.”