Another Coup In Pakistan? Why Imran Khan Went On 'Leave' After Meeting Army Chief Bajwa

All is not well between Pakistan Army and Prime Minister Imran Khan or so the buzz is in media across the border. It all started when Imran Khan suspended his official engagements for two days to spend the weekend at his Banigala residence just after his meeting with General Qamar Javed Bajwa. Soon, there were reports that unhappy with Khan’s dealing with both internal and external affairs, army forced Khan to go on leave. However, the Pakistan Army has rejected all ‘baseless rumours’. Major General Asif Ghafoor, the ISPR director general, told ARY News that there was no difference of opinion on the issues of the state with the government.

“The army is supporting a democratically elected government as per the Constitution and there will be no let-up in this as that’s must for progress and prosperity of Pakistan,” the ARY News quoted the ISPR chief as saying. According to Dawn, Ghafoor said that, “Meetings take place as and when required and at times not every meeting is covered in media. There have been meetings and telephone calls between the two in period between the last two meetings covered in media.”

In addition, rumours spread on Twitter that the leave of the 111 Brigade had been cancelled. A viral but unattributed tweet stated that “All leave of personnel of 111 Inf Bde cancelled. All personnel to report back for duty by last light 04/10/19”. The 111 Brigade was involved in General Ayub Khan’s coup d’etat against Iskander Mirza, General Zia-ul-Haq’s coup against Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s government and in Pervez Musharraf's coup against the Nawaz Sharif regime