Renowned analyst and Imran Khan's brother-in-law Hafeezullah Khan Niazi has said that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan's political career may have ended in April 2022 had former army head General Qamar Javed Bajwa not kept him alive for his tenure’s extension.
Speaking on Naya Daur TV’s flagship show Khabar Say Aagay (Beyond the Headlines) on Thursday, Niazi said that Imran Khan’s aggressive politics have no parallels in Pakistan’s political history and that ‘although some people tell me he’s been pleading for mercy in his Attock Jail cell, I refuse to believe these claims’.
Hafeezullah Niazi responded to President Arif Alvi's suggestion that the Election Commission of Pakistan seek advice from the Supreme Court when determining the election date by saying that while the establishment had no plans to hold elections, it was becoming more and more difficult for them to do so because the new chief justice, Qazi Faez Isa, might not be as hostile to the establishment as some might think, but he will undoubtedly not tolerate it. "At which point the establishment might have to bring in new PCO judges," he continued.
Hafeezullah Niazi said that his son was caught in the crossfire between the army and Hassan's uncle Imran Khan in response to the question of his son Hassan Khan Niazi's involvement in the May 9 riots and subsequent detention. It appears that even Indian saboteur Kulbhushan Jadhav hadn't been exposed to the type of constraints that the accused of the May 9 occurrences were, he said, adding that Hassan Niazi did not wave the corps commander's trousers on May 9.
Commenting on former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s planned return to Pakistan next month, Hafeezullah Niazi argued that Imran Khan currently enjoys the same kind of popularity in Punjab that Nawaz enjoyed between 2007 and 2021 when he was the undisputed leader of Pakistan’s largest province. This is what I’ve been telling my PMLN friends as well, he added, adding that they shouldn’t bring a vote of no-confidence against Imran Khan because that would brand them as the pawns of the establishment while Imran Khan will become the symbol of anti-establishment politics in the country.
"What Imran Khan has done is unprecedented in Pakistan’s history. He doesn’t need more popularity. Other political leaders, compared with him right now, seem irrelevant," Hafeezullah Niazi said.
Beyond the Headlines is hosted by Raza Rumi Monday-Thursday 9 PM (Pakistan Time) only on nayadaur.tv