Bajwa’s in-law plotted Imran Khan ouster: Book
Imran Khan
By Manish Anand
New Delhi, June 27: The May 9 uprising, blamed on former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, accounted for the heads of three top ranking army officials. One of the first for the Pakistani Army to purge the “Imran Khan sympathizers” is seen as a part of the unravelling of the course correction initiated by Major General (Retd) Ojaz Amjad, father-in-law of former Pakistani military chief Qamar Javed Bajwa.
A book released yesterday has traced the falling apart of Imran Khan and the Pakistani Army in months after the former cricket won the July 2018 general election in the Islamic country. The book, co-authored by Ravinder Kumar Kasuhik with several strategic thinkers, gave the background of the military establishment first propping up Khan against Nawaz Sharif, former Prime Minister of Pakistan, saying that it was General Kayani and the ISI Chief Ahmed Shuja Pasha schemed with the cricketer from 2011 onwards.
“…slowly differences started (between the establishment and Khan). General Bajwa’s powerful father-in-law, major General (Retd) Ijaz Amjad , started hobnobbing with Shahbaz Sharif and Pakistani Muslim League (Nawaz),” Kaushik wrote in the chapter ‘Pakistan: Treading a difficult journey’ in the book ‘Gyan Chakra on India’s military strategy’.
After Bajwa was given a three years extension by Khan, the book stated that he began active interference in the government, ensuring that Nawaz Sharif was released from the jail. “He (Bajwa) also wanted the change of the chief minister in Punjab where a lame-duck, Usman Buzdar, Imran’s choice, ruled. However, Imran refused, and Bajwa felt humiliated as he had promised a real-estate tycoon Aleem Khan about the post,” Kaushik, who has been a Pakistan observer, further wrote in the book.
Bajwa’s relations with Imran sank further after he shifted out the ISO chief Faiz Hameed, added Kaushik, stating that the cricketer-turned-politician had resisted the move. Kaushik argued in the book that Bajwa had also been miffed with Imran because of the fast depleting foreign exchange reserves.
While top general have been purged for the May 9 uprising against the military establishment by the followers of Imran Khan, the Shahbaz Sharif government seemingly gave a free hand to go after the PTI by trying its leaders in the military courts. Pakistani commentators have stated that the May 9 uprising and the subsequent desertions of the leaders from the ranks of the PTI may eclipse the political career of Imran Khan, who was an outsider in the established political ecosystem of the Islamic nation.
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