Former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief Lt Gen (r) Zaheerul Islam has clarified he never asked for the resignation of former premier and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supreme leader Nawaz Sharif in 2014.
“I never sent anyone to convey any such message to [Nawaz], this is absolutely wrong,” he said while speaking to a newspaper.
Instead, Islam insisted that at every stage of the 2014 sit-in, he had advised the PML-N government to engage politically with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) to end the protest.
Islam, however, was reluctant to talk further on the subject, according to the report.
The former spy chief’s comments come days after Nawaz claimed that during his last stint as premier, at a time when PTI Chairman Imran Khan was leading the prolonged 2014 Islamabad sit-in, the former ISI chief conveyed a message in the middle of the night, asking for Sharif’s resignation or else the consequences could include a martial law imposed in the country.
“I was told to step down and go home. I said whatever you want to do, do it […] I will not resign [from the office of the prime minister],” Sharif said, referring to Islam’s alleged message, during his September 30 virtual address to his party.
Mocking Sharif’s claim, Prime Minister Imran, in an interview with a local news outlet, said, “You were the prime minister, [how] does he have the courage to say that to you?”
“If someone tells that to me, I will demand his resignation. I am the democratically elected prime minister; who can dare tell me to step down?”
