Pakistan’s opposition party has made shocking revelations about the events of February 2019 when Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan decided to release Indian Air Force pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman. Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) leader Ayaz Sadiq said Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa’s “legs were shaking” and the government released the Wing Commander “out of fear”.
Now, Pakistan’s fears about the return of Abhinandan Vardhman have been revealed by Ayaz Sadiq. According to Sadiq, Pakistan feared that if Abhinandan was not freed, India would attack.
In a speech in the National Assembly, Ayaz Sadiq said that Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had in an emergency meeting pointed out that “if Islamabad did not release Abhinandan Varthaman, India would attack Pakistan that night by 9 pm”, reported Pakistani media website Dunya News.
“I remember Shah Mahmood Qureshi was in the meeting in which Imran Khan had refused to attend and Chief of Army Staff General Bajwa came into the room, his legs were shaking and he was perspiring. Foreign Minister said for God’s sake let Abhinandan go, India’s about to attack Pakistan at 9 PM,” said Sadiq.
Varthaman was released by Pakistan after Prime Minister Imran Khan made the dramatic announcement in the National Assembly as a sign of “goodwill gesture”.
While targeting the government, Ayaz said that we did not bring an ordinance for Kulbhushan. We did not give Kulbhushan as much access as this command. He went on to say, “What do you talk about Abhinandan, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, and Army Chief were in that meeting. Qureshi had said, let the Abhinandan go back, ‘Khuda ka vasta’ let the Abhinandan go, India will attack by 9 pm. Imran Khan refused to come to that meeting”.
Ayaz further said that during the meeting, Qureshi’s feet were trembling; he created an atmosphere of fear in the meeting by saying that India would attack Pakistan at nine o’clock at night if they don’t return Abhinandan. Whereas in reality, nothing like this was going to happen.
Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was held captive by Pakistan security forces after his MiG 21 Bison crossed the Line Of Control (LoC) and landed erroneously into the neighbouring country’s territory. Before the Wing commander was captured, he shot down 2 Pakistani pilots and hit an F-16 jet.
On 28th February, Imran Khan had announced that Abhinandan would be released soon as a “gesture of peace”, and the Wing Commander had returned to India on 1 March 2019.
