The Pakistan government has withdrawn the security cover of senator Aimal Wali Khan and his family, just days after the politician severely criticised army chief Asim Munir for gifting a sample of the country's rare earth minerals to US President Donald Trump.
According to a report in Dawn, Wali's Awami National Party (ANP) lashed out at the “hybrid regime” in Pakistan over political victimisation and violating provincial autonomy, vowing to arrange its own security.
Party leaders, including Ameer Haider Khan Hoti, condemned the withdrawal as “political revenge” and an attack on the 18th Amendment meant to suppress dissent.
In a post on X, Wali said that the federal government (interior ministry) revoked the security personnel allotted to him, his father and family.
He added that if anything happened to him or his family, the responsibility would rest with the government. “I’ll keep on speaking for the public and am ready for anything coming my way. Yes, I will be moving more securely with private personal and Salaars [referring to ANP workers],” the ANP president said on X.
Interestingly, the decision came even after Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Khan Gandapur assured Wali that his security cover will not be withdrawn.
The move comes just days after Wali tore into Field Marshal Asim Munir’s high-profile visit to the White House and his meeting with Trump.
“In what capacity and on what grounds did our Chief of Army Staff Asim Munir present rare earth minerals as gift to the US president?" he asked in the Senate, as photographs of the Field Marshal presenting Trump with a wooden box filled with minerals went viral on X.
Calling Munir a "salesman", the Pakistani senator said that the spectacle looked like a "joke" on the Constitution.
"Munir looks like a salesman selling something to someone, with the manager PM Shehbaz Sharif watching the drama. Munir is touring abroad and attending diplomatic meetings…It’s a joke on the Constitution and the country…There is no democracy. It is dictatorship in Pakistan. This is contempt of Parliament," he said, raising long-standing concerns about the overreach of military in foreign policy matters.
This was Munir's third visit to US in recent months and second meeting with Trump since the military escalation with India in May.
The senator had demanded a joint session of Parliament to clarify Munir’s meetings with Trump, Pakistan’s support for the US Gaza peace plan, and the shadowy Pakistan-Saudi defence deal.
Earlier, the White House released photographs of Munir presenting Trump with Pakistan's rare earth minerals with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif beaming on in the background.
Sharif later hailed Trump as a “man of peace" for his “sincere efforts" to end global conflicts, declaring that the Pakistan-US partnership would be “further strengthened to the mutual benefit of both countries," according to his office.
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