Sensational revelations made by cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan in a recent interview with this scribe uncover the enormous scale of the conspiracy against his party because of which it lost last year’s general elections.
Analysts say the shocking disclosures will send shockwaves that will rock the riot-hit federal capital Islamabad and fundamentally change the very nature of the debate about the rigging of the 2013 polls.
The plot to steal people’s mandate involves much more than just the judiciary, bureaucracy, and the military. “Our investigations reveal that the number of people involved in this conspiracy against Pakistan involves hundreds of thousands of people, in fact millions of them, who decided to vote for the PML-N,” the popular politician divulged to this scribe. “We knew that the elections had been stolen, but have just realized the enormity of the process,” he said. “I will not leave this container until Nawaz Sharif resigns,” Khan said during a conversation on his way to his house in Bani Gala.
Will Shahbaz dance?
Meanwhile, the twin cities are abuzz with speculation about whether Shahbaz Sharif will give in to the demands of his critics after the recent calamity that hit the province he rules. After record-breaking rains that have been referred to as some as the largest ice bucket challenge in the world, even some workers of Punjab chief minister’s party have begun to ask if he will do what his counterpart in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa did days ago when similar rains brought life to a standstill in the provincial capital of Peshawar.
“In an unrelenting display of defiance and courage, he got up on the stage and danced,” a veteran political worker said while talking to this scribe. “Through your publication I urge Shahbaz Sharif to follow in the footsteps of that brave man and dance better and longer than him.”
After the demand began to resonate on the social media, thousands of charged followers of Imran Khan sitting in on the constitution avenue chanted “Dance Shahbaz Dance” in a bid to pressure the chief minister to give in to their demands.
IDPs join protests:
The protest has witnessed a steady rise in the number of participants over the last few weeks. Insiders link the development to the decision by elders of the tribes displaced by the on-going military operation in South Waziristan to join the protests.
After careful deliberations in a daylong jirga in Bannu, sources say they came to the conclusion that the only way the media will give them any attention is for them to go and become part of the sit-in in Islamabad.
“The media was not coming to us, so we decided to go to the media,” one tribal elder revealed to this scribe on condition of anonymity. “It was not an easy decision for us. We do not usually let out women dance and sing in the presence of men. But we were desperate and the government was not taking any action. So we decided to go where the action is.”
Unlikely defection:
Back in Islamabad, rumours are rife that the government released the pictures of JavedHashmi circulating the Internet, in which his wet clothes have become see-through. “They threatened to release more pictures from the same day, and that is why JavedHashmi defected,” one Tehrik-e-Insaf leader is of the opinion.
Sheikh Rashid, who was accused of delivering ‘secret messages’ to Imran Khan, declined to comment on the report, but said when he was seen whispering to Imran Khan, he was only asking if he could quickly go to the restroom – a request that Khan denied. “If you look closely at his face in TV visuals recorded at that time, you can tell that he is telling the truth,” a veteran journalist said.
Inside job:
In another shocking development, an intelligence report sent to the Interior Ministry leaked to the media says the breaking of the Parliament House in last week’s riots was an inside job.
“Initial investigations reveal that the fence was not broken by the outsiders to get into the parliament, but the insiders to get out,” one officer said. He said law-enforcement was considering increasing the threat level to red, after reports that a number of parliamentarians are at large in Islamabad.
“The problem here is that these legislators have the ability to change their appearance according to their environment, and it is very hard to tell them apart from regular people,” the officer said in a telephone interview.
Analysts see it as a dangerous development. “This is serious,” said one journalist who closely watches politics in Pakistan. “They can manipulate people and become the cause of large scale violence, that may include attacks on key state buildings in the Red Zone of the federal capital.”

n    The author has a degree in Poetics of Prophetic Discourse and works as a Senior Paradigm Officer.