Will not use country's institutions against anyone: Khawaja Asif

ISLAMABAD: Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has asserted that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) would not use the country’s institutions against any opponent like former prime minister and PTI Chairman Imran Khan did, ARY News reported on Monday.

Speaking on the National Assembly floor, the federal minister claimed that Imran Khan used all the national institutions against the opposition.

“However, since we came into power, we have not politically victimized any member of the opposition. We will not use national institutions against anyone,” he reiterated.

The defence minister further said that Imran Khan was attacking Pakistan and its institutions using other countries’ platforms.

Without naming anyone, he said: “A head of our institution was targeted in the Canadian Parliament. The country’s parliamentarian has defamed our institution and the state. The Canadian government should have taken notice of the matter.”

Khawaja Asif questioned why Canada is unable to see human rights violations in Kashmir and Palestine. “Canada has the highest number of Islamophobia cases in five years,” he pointed out.

He noted that Pakistan has record protest with Canada at the diplomatic level. “Muslims in the world also have basic rights. Unfortunately, when it comes to Muslims, the world conscience is asleep,” he regretted.

The federal minister admitted that democracy in Pakistan may not be strong, but at the moment there is a majority in the parliament and the minority has resigned. “Overseas Pakistanis are our asset, but the previous government also divided them. Imran Khan tried to create unrest abroad as well,” he added.

Khawaja Asif added that time will tell how many decades Imran Khan has taken the country backwards and how much he has harmed society. He urged the politicians not to damage Pakistan’s reputation for their politics.