Ministers criticize PTI for “defaming institutions”; supports ISPR statements on former prime minister
ISLAMABAD/LAHORE/KARACHI:
A day after the PTI responded to a press conference by the military’s top spokesperson who described former Prime Minister Imran Khan as a “narcissist” and “mentally ill”, leaders of different parties in the ruling coalition slammed the PTI for its alleged “anti-state narrative”.
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Iqbal, who belongs to the PML-N, said political differences are part of any democracy, but when politics crosses the line into building an anti-state narrative, deliberate misinformation and attacks on the integrity of the armed forces, it threatens the stability, security and unity of the country.
Iqbal added that no leader had the right to use divisive rhetoric as a weapon for personal gain at the cost of Pakistan’s national security. He said Pakistan Army is a professional, disciplined and patriotic institution that has been the shield of this nation, from fighting terrorism to defending territorial sovereignty.
“Attempting to defame the armed forces or create discord between the people and their defenders only serves the agenda of Pakistan’s enemies,” he said, adding that he “strongly condemns” Imran’s continued policy of hatred, distortion and incitement against the state and state institutions.
Addressing a press conference at his residence in Rawalpindi, Railway Minister Hanif Abbasi said that any campaign against the army is intolerable for any Pakistani. “Those who only understand strength cannot be convinced with words,” he said.
He said there is no justification left to allow a meeting between Imran Khan, detained in Adiala Jail, and his party leaders as Imran’s narrative is an attack on the state. He said the decision on whether governor’s rule will be imposed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will be taken later.
“Today a deliberate conspiracy is pushing the country towards destabilization. The same people who were tools in the past are being used,” he said.
According to him, the enmity between India and Afghanistan towards Pakistan has come a long way. He alleged that Afghanistan, which previously operated in secret, now openly supports various organizations.
“The founder’s sisters and children are sitting in the Indian media,” he said, adding: “They ask why he has been declared mentally unstable; we say the decision is correct.”
Addressing PML-N workers in Lahore, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar also declared Imran Khan “mentally unstable”. He said that people in the PTI place Imran Khan above anything else. “We reject and condemn that way of thinking, because if Pakistan is not there, nothing else matters.”
Tarar said the PTI has ruled Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa for 12 and a half years but has failed to carry out a single major development project in the province.
He said the provincial government has left the KP in ruins and could not even build a hospital in its own province, while the PML-N built major projects in Punjab, including a forensic laboratory and numerous development works.
Tarar added that the videos of the attack on the Corps Commander’s House on May 9, 2023 clearly show that women belonging to the PTI were present during the assault.
“They carried out acts to weaken our army to a point that even our enemies could not,” he said. He accused the PTI government of cowardice for never raising its voice against India and said the PTI’s social media accounts are involved in misleading propaganda against state institutions.
The MQM-P leadership also denounced the PTI for “deviating from a political route and resorting to street politics to cause instability in the country.”
“The PTI has continued its policy of leveling accusations and instead of choosing the right forum to address those allegations, it used it to create political instability in the country,” MQM-P President Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui said during a press conference in Karachi.
“During this time, when all parliamentarians from both sides of the spectrum should have supported the armed forces, the leaders of the armed forces and the political leaders of the country, a campaign was started in the last two days, giving rise to fears that there might be some foreign elements involved in all this,” he said.
Siddiqui went on to say that all political parties might have different views and even different dreams for the future of Pakistan, “but whenever the country was in crisis, it was seen that all political parties were united.”
Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti, who belongs to the PPP, condemned “elements spreading false narratives against the Pakistan Armed Forces” at a press conference in Islamabad on Sunday.
According to Bugti, some political parties spread anti-state propaganda, while their own leaders’ children study abroad. “Our State is more important than politics. We must abandon narratives that seek to weaken the State,” he stated.
