Senate Session: Imran Khan Denounced For ‘Backing Taliban’

Senate Session: Imran Khan Denounced For ‘Backing Taliban’
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman and former prime minister Imran Khan was denounced in the Senate for allegedly backing the Taliban and attempting to set up offices to aid in their rehabilitation in the country.

During the session, senators questioned why Paigham-e-Pakistan and the National Action Plan (NAP) were not executed but rather abandoned under the PTI government.

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Senator Palwasha Muhammad Zai criticized Imran Khan for allegedly backing militants. "Who resettled the terrorists under an organized strategy," she questioned in her speech.

She denounced the PTI leadership, which used to say, "these terrorists are our brothers" and "they should be brought into the national mainstream," despite the fact that the PPP and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) governments had been battling militants.

Senator Palwasha further said that the fact that Imran Khan had been chosen by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a banned outfit, to represent them in negotiations with the then government indicated how close Imran Khan was to them.

She also condemned Senator Dr Shahzad Waseem, the Leader of the Opposition, for his earlier speech and pointed out that it was Imran Khan who, in a September 16, 2021 interview with a foreign media outlet, had urged people to give the Taliban some time to demonstrate their credentials.

She lamented that 70,000 Pakistanis and personnel of the law enforcement agencies (LEAs) had sacrificed their lives when Imran Khan made these remarks. She mentioned that Imran Khan spoke out against the armed forces of Pakistan in a British court.

The PPP senator noted that the PTI had never denounced any type of terrorism. She also highlighted that militants had returned to Pakistan while Imran Khan was prime minister.

On the audio leaks issue, she stated that only national security-related talks should be recorded, not private conversations.

Senator Syed Waqar Mehdi also criticized Imran Khan, saying that terrorists were supported and encouraged during the previous government's tenure. However, he added that a terrorist cannot be good in any form because a terrorist is a terrorist.