Pakistan’s military has said that it won’t impose “martial law” in the country, saying that the armed forces “wholeheartedly” supported democracy and would continue to do so.
The head of the army - Pakistan's Chief of Army Staff (COAS) - General Asim Munir, “believes in democracy”, according to a statement on Friday evening to a news channel from Major-General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, Director General of the army’s publicity wing, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).
The military spokesman also denied reports that senior Army officials have resigned in protest against the COAS in the wake of violent protests which rocked the country after the arrest of former Prime Minister Imran Khan.
Chaudhry said that the forces remained “united” under General Munir.
“The dreams of creating division within the army will remain dreams. Neither has anyone resigned nor disobeyed any order,” he said.
Khan Criticizes Army Chief
The military spokesman's remarks were made after Khan launched a tirade against the Army chief for “maligning” the entire institution.
“There is one man. It’s the Army chief. There’s no democracy in the Army. The Army is getting maligned by what’s happening right now. The Army is getting maligned because of one man,” the former prime minister remarked, after he was granted bail in the Al-Qadir Trust case by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday.
According to Pakistan’s National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Khan and his wife received land worth millions of dollars from a property tycoon to establish an educational institution.
However, the NAB has said that the entire deal caused losses to the tune of $239Mln to the Pakistani taxpayer.
Khan, who has been slapped with more than 100 different cases since being ousted from power in a parliamentary no-confidence motion last year, has described the allegations as "politically motivated" and "baseless".
Khan was arrested from the Islamabad High Court by Pakistan’s paramilitary agency Rangers on 9 May. The country’s top court ruled that his arrest was “illegal” and asked him to approach the Islamabad High Court.
During the ensuing protests, pro-Khan protestors even targeted military installations, ransacking and setting the residence of Corp Commander in Lahore on fire in what are unprecedented events in the country where the military has played an influential role.