Imran Khan says 'we cannot afford weak army in Pakistan'

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman and former premier Imran Khan has said that the country could not afford a weak army after witnessing the plight of those countries which failed to build a strong army, ARY News reported on Saturday.

While addressing a seminar in Islamabad today, Imran Khan said that a strong army was necessary for the country. He expressed concerns over negative trends on social media and said that the whole world was planning to control social media.

The PTI chief questioned the characters who played their role in letting the alleged US conspiracy against the elected government be successful. He criticised that the president sent the cipher to the chief justice but deliberate attempts were made to wrap up the issue and it was told that such ciphers were a routine thing.

READ: IMRAN KHAN CHALLENGES GOVT TO FILE ARTICLE 6 REFERENCE AGAINST HIM

He also criticised that the Supreme Court (SC) has threatened on the cipher issue instead of carrying out an inquiry. Khan said that the government did not try to influence judicial matters during PTI tenure.

“Democracy is always based on moral values. The United Kingdom (UK) maintains moral values that preserve democracy in its original shape. Freedom of expression and character assassination is discouraged there just because they have better moral standards. I have never seen such things in Pakistan.”

“In the UK, [an elected prime minister] Boris Johnson was removed from his office for telling a lie. But here, Shehbaz Sharif and his son were made the prime minister and chief minister when they are going to face indictment. Hamza Shahbaz becomes an unconstitutional chief minister [in Punjab] and the government machinery is being used to win the by-polls.”

READ: PTI CONTESTING PUNJAB BY-ELECTIONS FOR REAL FREEDOM: IMRAN KHAN

Khan said that the whole nation was looking toward the establishment as they have power. He continued that constructive criticism was necessary to improve the governance issues which will also benefit the establishment. “Journalists should be allowed for constructive criticism otherwise we would never be able to differentiate between right and wrong.”

The former prime minister was of the view that fair and free elections were the only solution left to stabilise the country. “The time of martial laws is over and we have to strengthen our democracy now. An independent media is necessary for strengthening democracy in any country. It is also important to regulate social media. There is no need to devise new law but to enforce the available regulations.”

He said that the two ruling families of Pakistan were involved in controlling the judiciary and media after they were found involved in corruption.