Moonis Elahi, son of Punjab Chief Minister Parvez Elahi, has revealed that he was asked by former army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa to side with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) during April’s no-trust motion against the party’s chief Imran Khan.
During an interview with Meher Abbasi on Thursday evening, Moonis claimed that the PTI-led Punjab government was only able to survive because of Gen Bajwa, the same person the party had been hurling accusations against, and labeling ‘traitor’, ‘Mir Jaffer’, ‘Janwar’ for several months.
“At present, a certain section on social media has been bashing Bajwa sahib without any reason. He is the same Bajwa sahib who had bent the direction of the river’s flow for the PTI,” he said.
In response to a question, the Pakistan Muslim League -Quaid (PML-Q) leader said that his inclination had been to support the PTI from Day 1.
“We were offered the chief ministry from all sides, by Mian [Nawaz Sharif] sahib, by the PTI and by the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM),” he maintained, reiterating that he had wanted to side with the PTI.
Elahi said he then had a discussion with his father [Parvez Elahi] and his uncle [Chaudhry Shujaat] who then had a talk with General Bajwa, who instructed them to opt for the PTI.
“He said ‘It is my wish that you side with them (PTI)’. Had Bajwa been bad, why would he have asked us to side with PTI at that critical juncture? He only had to give a signal at that point and we would have gone the other way,” Moonis maintained, claiming that he had never bought into the narrative that Bajwa was anti-PTI.
So the mystery of that sudden decision that baffled everyone has been solved.
This shows that we have not been in a real apolitical phase so far at least until July/August. It’s more like a balancing act to not let the two parties gain total control. And a soft corner for its own creation so it’s not demoralised completely but rather eased back into the real world. Almost like a parent to let off from carrying on the shoulder to easing the way in the real world.
Hope the new COAS shuts out this nonsense once for all. Other threats are looming and professionalism beckons the soldiers not this malaise.