One after the other audio leaks have taken all those treading the corridors of powers and others outside by shock and surprise.These audio leaks emanated from the Prime Minister House in Islamabad and thus raised questions about the security of a highly sensitive place like the PM house.
Quite obviously, facilitators of the audio leaks were the political leaders and officials of the PM house and these leaks have surfaced mainly due to the ongoing political tussle between the incumbent coalition government of PM Shehbaz Sharif and former Prime Minister Imran Khan as they were determined to humiliate each other in all possible and also impossible manners.
The first audio was leaked and it went around in circulation. It recorded the discussion on the possibility of facilitating the import of Indian machinery for a power project between the PM and PML-N’s vice president, Maryam Nawaz Sharif, as well as her son-in-law Raheel.
The next day, more recordings surfaced which was concerning the former Finance Minister Miftah Ismail and the resignations of PTI lawmakers from the National Assembly.
This was not all. Another audio recording was leaked earlier to this one wherein former Prime Minister Imran Khan was discussing with his Principal Secretary Azam Khan about the possibility of changing the contents of the cypher received from Washington, purportedly containing a threat regarding a regime change in Pakistan and the drafting of the minutes which suited PTI federal government.
These audio leaks obviously raised serious questions about the security of the Prime Minister house. It was good that the incumbent coalition government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif moved quite swiftly.
The leaking of such recordings was quite a serious matter and it was accordingly discussed by the National Security Committee. Resultantly a high level probe was decided by the forum headed by Interior Minister Rana Snaullah.
The committee was to look into all aspects of the security of the Prime Minister house and other sensitive places and look into all possibilities of how the recording was leaked which was quite obviously not possible without direct or indirect involvement of one or more officials of the PM house.
The committee was given a week to complete the investigation into a very sensitive matter and as such, it would have finalised its task and submitted its report to the Prime Minister by the time this appears in print.
he federal government also decided to entrust the FIA with the criminal investigation into the matter. The main people involved include, Prime Minister Imran Khan,Azam Khan and PTI leaders.
Commenting on yet another damning audio leak featuringImran Khan and other party leaders, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said that the leaked audio had totally busted the narrative of the former PM that the incumbent government was a product of conspiracy. He further stated that Imran Niazi had had wasted time on concocting lies and propaganda about his successor government whereas his own audio leak had exposed his fraudulence. Imran Khan called the politicians traitors however, in reality, it was he who had betrayed the nation. Imran Khan’s lies about an imported government were in fact a conspiracy against the entire nation.
The matter was also deliberated upon by the federal cabinet in its specially convened meeting. The committee was to probe into the cypher stolen from the PM house after it was informed that a copy carrying details of the US official’s purported threat to ex-Prime Minister Imran Khan was missing from the PM house. The cypher based on the then Pakistan envoy AsadMajeed’s meeting with US State Department official, Donald Lu, had been at the center of PTI’s claim that the US had conspired with elements within Pakistan to oust Prime Minister Imran Khan from power.
The specially convened federal cabinet had declared that the theft of the diplomatic cypher records was an unforgivable crime and violation of the Official Secrets Act of 1923 after being told that the act was an unpardonable crime against the state which was tantamount toprioritising political interests over key sensitive interests of the state.
The PTI leadership had termed the federal government’s decision to probe the matter at the high level as a step in the right direction and suggested that it would have been better if a Supreme Court Commission was entrusted this responsibility.
PTI Chairman Imran Khan had welcomed it and said that it is a matter of satisfaction that the incumbent government had at last accepted the fact that a cypher existed, since it had earlier been denying this. He also said quite emphatically that no copy of the diplomatic cypher was missing from the PM house and that its maser copy was in safe custody in the Foreign Office.Federal Information Minister Maryam Aurangzeb was also reported to have said that the cypher was in the Foreign Office.
Much more can be and is being said about the audio leak from both sides. But it would be better if both sides refrain from commenting on the cypher issue in any manner and wait for the findings of the probe by the FIA.
From a technical point of view, generally four mechanisms are reported to be adopted for such recordings which was not possible without any help and connivance of those who have easy access to the PM house around the clock. These mechanisms briefly include a local device, mobile phone and cyber breach.
The findings of the probe into the audio leaks from the PM house will hopefully identify the culprits, both inside and outside, and also the tone of the political developments in the country in the coming months as political stability is direly needed for ensuring economic stability, development and the prosperity of the people. The country can hardly afford the continuation of an ugly and dirty political tussle between the rulers and the opposition.