MUMBAI, 30 December 2007 — Pakistani cricketer-turned-politician and president of Tarik-e-Insaaf party, Imran Khan on Friday demanded the immediate resignation of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf in the wake of the assassination of former Premier Benazir Bhutto. “I hold Musharraf responsible for the assassination of Benazir,” he said.
Speaking at a press conference here, Imran expressed serious concerns over the situation following the death of Benzir and said that Pakistan was now heading toward total anarchy and demanded the installation of an all parties consensus government in addition to the reinstatement of judiciary.
“This person (Musharraf) has failed on all fronts. He is not a solution but is the real problem. He says he will crush terrorism but it’s crushing us. It is the right time for him to resign and give the country hope. Only democracy can fight terror,” Imran said.
Imran chided Pakistani administration for not providing adequate security cover to Benazir placing the blame squarely on Musharraf. “The very existence of Pakistan is now under threat. A complete change in strategy is needed,” he said.
When asked about the government’s proposal to hold a judicial probe into the assassination, Imran shot back “What judicial probe are we talking about? Sixty percent of the judges have been sent home. We don’t have faith in rest of them.” He demanded an “independent inquiry” into the assassination of Benazir.
Asked if he felt threatened in Pakistan, Imran replied in the negative. Asked if Benazir’s return to Pakistan was a mistake, Imran said “She was brave and not timid. Nobody can deny it. She was a threat to all who are in power.”
To another question as to whether Benazir’s assassination was the handiwork of Al-Qaeda, Imran said that he was not in a position to confirm whether Al-Qaeda had executed the murder or not. Often it is easy to palm off such killings to the terrorist outfit.
“However, I hold Musharraf responsible as his government failed to provide security to Benazir despite a major assassination attempt on her a couple of months ago,” Imran added.
