Lahore [Pakistan], July 22 : Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan lashed out at the country's government alleging that the resurgence of the cypher controversy is an "apparent bid" to disqualify him from contesting elections by the ruling parties, Dawn reported on Friday.
He further said that the ruling parties have “shot themselves in the foot” by reviving the issue.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf Chairman during his address, accused Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Foreign Minister Asif Ali Zardari, and former Chief of Army Staff Qamar Javed Bajwa of hatching a conspiracy to remove him
“The rulers have only a one-point agenda i.e. how to disqualify the PTI chairman and send him to jail. In order to fulfil this plan, they have now brought forward the cypher,” he claimed.
“But they are clueless that this cypher will be their annihilation,” Dawn quoted Khan as saying.
He further demanded a detailed inquiry into the US cypher “conspiracy” as the Federal Investigation Agency was not “competent enough” to spearhead the probe.
“The nation must know about the real players behind the conspiracy,” he said.
Imran Khan lauded then-envoy to the US Asad Majeed – who had reportedly asked the government to issue a demarche over the cypher – for his integrity and steadfastness, saying no such courage was shown by other politicians.
“My own army chief was lobbying against me and acting to topple the government that had revived the country’s economy and industry after hectic efforts,” the PTI chairman alleged.
The former PM alleged that his aide Azam Khan was “forced” to make the statement and he wouldn’t believe the statement until he listens to him in person.
“I don’t believe Azam Khan has said many of these things [in the alleged statement]…and many are also true,” he said in a reference to the statement attributed to his aide.
The matter pertains to the claims made by the PTI Chairman on March 27, 2022. Khan, during a gathering of PTI workers, pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket and waved it at the crowd, claiming that it was evidence of an "international conspiracy" being hatched to topple his government.
The US has time and again denied such allegations, terming them "categorically false".
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