Jailed former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan would not confront army chief Asim Munir if he were released, one of his closest aides said, suggesting Munir could extend a “healing hand” following a legal breakthrough this week.
“If Imran Khan was released tomorrow, hypothetically, he wouldn’t do anything that would effectively damage the country,” Bukhari said, describing him as “magnanimous”. “That doesn’t mean you go loggerheads with the establishment, with the military leader,” he said, according to Reuters.
The government and military did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Bukhari’s remarks. “You control your own hurt. You curb your own pain. You swallow it for the betterment of your country.”
“I would feel that every political prisoner would be out within 24 hours.
The military has previously said it does not interfere in politics, while the government maintains that Khan’s cases are matters for the courts. Bukhari described the ruling as a “new ray of hope” and said PTI would follow the court’s instruction preventing its workers and leaders from gathering outside the hospital. Bukhari said PTI was not holding talks with the military, but described Munir, who also holds the rank of field marshal, as Pakistan’s most powerful man. If Munir woke up “one fine morning” and said: “Enough, I need to show I’m the father of the nation at the moment”, then he could “rub his healing hand on to the country,” Bukhari said. It’s unclear if “PTI’s leadership have the capacity, so long as Khan is in jail, to present a common front in any potential engagement or negotiation with the state”, said Michael Kugelman, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council. Earlier reporting noted: Jailed former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan would not confront the military or army chief Asim Munir if freed, one of his closest aides told Reuters, portraying Munir as able to extend a “healing hand” after a legal breakthrough this week. Earlier reporting noted: “If Imran Khan was released tomorrow, hypothetically, he wouldn’t do anything that would effectively damage the country,” Bukhari said, describing him as “magnanimous”. Earlier reporting noted: “That doesn’t mean you go loggerheads with the establishment, with the military leader,” he said.
By Thursday afternoon, however, Khan had yet to be transferred, and it was unclear whether the government would seek to challenge the ruling again after a challenge was rejected on technical grounds earlier on Thursday.
