- Claims PTI founder’s crimes list long including attempts to sabotage IMF deal and a ‘cipher conspiracy’
- Says probe into PTI’s social media cell would expose their alleged relations and connection with enemies
ISLAMABAD: Minister for Information, Broadcasting, Culture, and National Heritage Attaullah Tarar on Wednesday said the call made by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder for negotiation with the institutions was nothing but another conspiracy against the country.
This is another attempt of the PTI founder to drag the state institutions in his “dirty politics”, said the minister in a media talk outside the Parliament. He wondered how the PTI founder quickly changed his stance on the concept of the neutrality of the institutions. “It is not acceptable for him that the state institutions are neutral and now for his political benefits, he wants them to be involved in the politics which is regrettable,” he added.
The minister believed that the call for negotiation was made as the PTI founder preempted stern action against himself and his party after a raid on their social media cell which was operating in connivance with the enemies of the state.
He said further investigation into the operation of the social media cell would expose their alleged relations and connection with the state’s enemies who were involved in formulating anti-state policies.
The minister said economic progress of the country under the leadership of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also perturbed the PTI founder who had completely molded his harsh stance and tone.
“The PTI founder takes another U-turn today by suddenly requesting the institution to appoint a representative for talks,” the minister said wondering how quickly he transitioned from his earlier stance of “I won to please talk to me.”
Calling out him for his hypocrisy, Tarar said the PTI founder had resorted to the requests for talks after he realized that his shallow threats to the institutions would not work in any way.
He made it clear that there would be no compromise on the national security calling the PTI founder a “security risk” for the country due to his alleged involvement in the anti-state activities such as a malicious campaign against the state institutions on social media, attack on the army installations and defiling of the memorials of martyrs on May 9.
According to the minister, the PTI founder had a long list of crimes which included attempts to sabotage a deal of the Government of Pakistan with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to default the country, and a “cipher conspiracy” aimed to harm the country’s diplomatic relations with a friendly country.
He said the PTI founder developed a false narrative on cipher, citing a leaked in which he allegedly talked about playing with cipher for political point scoring. Tarar said evidence of the involvement of the PTI’s founder family members in May 9 attacks were on the record as the Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) footages showed that three of his sisters and one of his nephews were present outside the Corps Commander House Lahore.
The minister asserted that some of the PTI leaders such Shafqat Mahmood and Samsam Bukhari convened a meeting to oppose the idea of attacking the military installations and defiling memorials of martyrs, but it was the PTI leadership which was hell bent on vandalizing the sensitive buildings.
He said the PTI founder had confessed his crimes of May 9, but refused to undergo the polygraph test which would further expose his role in masterminding and orchestrating the tragedy.
Tarar said the PTI founder would spare no opportunity to create chaos and anarchy in the country recalling his party’s attack on the Pakistan Television, Parliament and police officers during 2014 sit-in.
The minister regretted that the PTI leader resettled the terrorists in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa which gave a rise to terrorism in the country.
