Emergency a constitutional option if situation remains unchanged

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has said the court expressed wishes instead of orders, 24NewsHD TV channel reported on Thursday.

“I was waiting for the order. The court expressed its desire, Khawaja Asif said while addressing a news conference after the top court declared Imran Khan’s arrest illegal.

He raised questions like “Why does the country have double standards? Is courtesy only for Imran Khan? Has Imran Khan not incited violence and provoked his supporters? 

No suo-moto notice of storming the Corps Commander’s House in Lahore has been taken so far, he said stressing that the court should have taken notice of the attacks on public property and sensitive installation. Is this way to run the state affairs? he asked 

The defence minister said: “There is no possibility of martial law in the country. If the situation remains unchanged, the emergency is a constitutional option. What India could not achieve in 75 years, they (PTI and its supporters) achieved in 2 days."

Earlier, a top court bench headed by the CJP declared illegal the arrest of Imran Khan, inviting ire among the coalition government that has been battling to control the damage inflicted by the PTI supporters.

The PTI activists took to the streets to vent their spleen over the arrest of Imran Khan in a corruption case. They attacked public property, stormed military assets and torched values worth millions.

Civil and military top brace condemned the act and vowed to take action against the attack on the state's prestige.

May 9 will be remembered as a black chapter, The Inter-Services Public Relations said. The PTI chairman was taken into legal custody yesterday from the Islamabad High Court according to NAB officials, it said, adding that immediately after the arrest, there were organized attacks on the army installations and anti-army slogans were raised.

 “We will not allow anyone to take the law into their hands,” it warned, adding that such strikes on state property will be dealt with an iron fist. The statement added: “On the one hand, these evil elements vigorously incited public sentiments to achieve their nefarious selfish goals and on the other, they kept shedding light on the importance of the army and its role for the state - throwing dust in the eyes of the innocent people. This is an example of hypocrisy."

“What the country’s enemy could not do in 75 years, this power-hungry clan has done donning political cloak. The army showed immense patience, tolerance and extreme restraint without caring about its own reputation. 

"It acted with utmost patience and tolerance in the wider interest of the country. With this situation created under nefarious planning, a heinous attempt was made to force the army to give its immediate reaction, which can be used for its nefarious political purposes.”

"Army's mature response thwarted the conspiracy it was well aware of. Facilitators, planners and political activists involved it have been identified and strict action will be taken against them as per the law and all these evil elements will now be responsible for the consequences."

The ISPR warned “Any further attack on the military and all law enforcement agencies will be dealt with iron hands. The full responsibility of which will be on the group that wants to push Pakistan into a civil war and has expressed this many times. No one can be allowed to incite people and take the law into the