Interior Minister Sarfraz Bugti does not think it would be beneficial for the country to summon former army chief (retd) General Qamar Javed Bajwa and former Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) director general (retd) General Faiz Hameed for investigation in the 2017 Faizabad sit-in case. He believes that moving forward is always beneficial and that the commission formed by the federal government to probe the sit-in is empowered to call anyone for investigation, despite the fact that so far, Bajwa and Faiz have not been summoned by the panel.
Bugti also expressed concerns about the 78% rise in terrorism across Pakistan in the last eight months, attributing the increase to a lack of consistency and policy of appeasement. He stated that the country faces challenges from Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan and Baloch separatists, and emphasized the need to deal with security threats. When asked about security for the upcoming elections, he deferred to the defence ministry and stated that paramilitary forces under the interior ministry would be available at the disposal of the Election Commission of Pakistan. He also described the violent protests on May 9 as a “conspiracy against the army” and clarified that the caretakers had no role in removing Imran Khan from the post of PTI chairman.