Chairman Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan finally admitted in an interview to a private channel that his allegation of ‘35 punctures’ regarding alleged rigging by Najam Sethi general election 2013 was nothing more than a political statement.
PTI and particularly Imran Khan kept criticizing on numerous platforms particularly during the dharna days, the role of interim Punjab Chief Minister during 2013 election for alleged rigging. But people were curious that what bars PTI and Imran Khan from bringing up the issue of ’35 punctures’ before the judicial commission probing the rigging allegations. Answering a question Imran revealed that he heard about 35 punctures from two sources and put the details on social networking website ‘twitter’. It was disheartening revelation from the PTI Chief for his supporters and workers. They were probably not accepting such statements from their leader who they considered a breath of fresh air in the political arena of Pakistani politics.
PTI has been claiming for a long time that they have more than enough evidences of rigging in 2013 general polls. If they do have so much evidence then what was the need to turn mere rumors into a political statement and beat the drum of 35 punctures? Indeed Imran Khan has played a praiseworthy role in highlighting the issue of rigging in the 2013 general elections but there was no need of such statements.
Prominent leader of PTI Arif Alvi did the right thing and by showing a big heart and apologized for ’35 punctures’ remarks, stating that there were many rumors regarding source of the information. On the other hand, PTI Central Information Secretary Naeemul Haq stated that `35 puncture` story is correct. Jahangir Tareen and Naeemul Haq are still defending the myth of 35 punctures; probably they have not heard their leader claiming it was nothing more than a political statement.
The acknowledgement by Imran that the ’35 puncture’ claim was a political statement has vindicated Najam Sethi.