“We should not have messed with [COAS] Asim Munir. People [within the party] started talking the day when his name was included in the list of potential army chief,” he said during an interview with analyst Muneeb Farooq on Samaa TV on Friday.

While responding to a question regarding his arrest, he claimed that he had been on a “soul-searching” journey for the last 40 days, alleging that reports of him being arrested were not true.

“I was on a chilla [a 40-day period of self-confinement]. I recited the Quran during this period. It was a hard chilla,” he added.

The former interior minister termed the May 9 riots the cause for PTI chief Imran Khan’s downfall.

“The May 9 riots were the reaction of the narrative built by Zulfi Bukhari, Shireen Mazari, Hammad Azhar, and Shehbaz Gill. I call for an apology from COAS Asim Munir for those PTI supporters who committed a crime,” he said.

According to Rasheed, the PTI chief barred him from negotiating with the army after he proposed to play a role in the situation arising out of May 9.

“You know Imran Khan can be stubborn in his stance. When I told him that I would negotiate on his behalf, he barred me from doing so,” he added.

For him, the political parties and the establishment should work together for the common cause of developing Pakistan.

“I believe that no politician should take the name of an army official. Politicians and institutions should work together. An institution always wins in the fight between politician and institution,” he said.