ISLAMABAD - Federal Minister for Information, Broadcasting, National Heritage and Culture Attaullah Tarar on Sunday lambasted Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur for ‘misleading’ foreign media as he said the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was engaged in spreading false claims to incite chaos.
He accused the KP Chief Minister of misleading the foreign media during Sunday’s briefing held in Peshawar. He labelled Gandapur’s allegations as false, inflammatory, and detrimental to national unity. Talking to the media in Islamabad, Tarar criticised the PTI leader’s tendency to issue provocative statements, saying, “These baseless accusations are a hallmark of their divisive politics.” He said the PTI always indulged in protests and sit-ins as the party did not have any positive or constructive agenda. The minister said that the series of incitement, threats and accusations was the style of PTI leadership.
The Minister reminded that in 2014, they [PTI] attacked the Pakistan Television Corporation building and targeted law enforcement personnel. The PTI leaders incite people to violence and then run away, he maintained. He said it was important to inform the nation about the facts regarding the baseless allegations of KP Chief Minister. “Gandapur’s allegations are based on lies and concoction,” he said adding now foreign media was invited to Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa to give them misleading briefings. He said on November 26, they invaded the capital with AK 47 rifles, teargas shells, grenades and slingshots. “The PTI first faked 1200 dead bodies and spread AI generated fake pictures on social media. If they were speaking the truth, their leadership would not have been given figures from 12 to 1200 deaths”, he said.
The Minister said that Bushra Bibi, spouse of PTI founder, was misleading and inciting the workers through her address. He posed a question as to why Ali Amin and Bushra Bibi ran away leaving their workers alone at the D-Chowk. Tarar said Gandapur was a political and administrative failure who had failed to manage the affairs of the province as chief minister. He said the nation will never forget what the PTI workers did on May 9 and all involved in arson and violence must face the law.
Tarar said the PTI was spreading propaganda against institutions on social media through its supporters abroad. He said that the PTI social media activists had links with anti-Pakistan people including Indians. He said a certain Indian army major and the PTI activists had the same agenda, both of them were against the Pakistan Armed Forces. He said that proofs of the guards Ali Amin Gandapur firing were now seen by the world. He said the PTI wanted to drag the Armed Forces into politics as the army high ups refused to support it. He said that now the Supreme Court has given a verdict that the military trial of those involved in the May 26 attacks would continue.
He said there was simple logic: if someone committed a crime in Pakistan Railway, the Railway Police would prosecute him, if someone committed a crime in the airport, the Airport Security Force would prosecute him. Similarly, if someone has attacked Pakistan Army installations, he will have to be prosecuted in Military Courts, he added.
He said that on Saturday, fake news was published claiming that arrest warrants were issued for 150 journalists. “Only three or four journalists were included in the list, the rest were PTI activists who had incited the people to violence.”
Tarar alleged that PTI leaders encourage violent protests but abandon their supporters when confronted by authorities. Referring to Gandapur’s recent statement that the next PTI call for protests would not be peaceful, Atta Tarar questioned, “Were any of your previous protests peaceful?”
The accusations came after Gandapur, in a conversation with foreign media in Peshawar, expressed his commitment to following all directives of PTI founder Imran Khan, including a call for civil disobedience. Addressing international media representatives at the Chief Minister’s House, Gandapur said the law-and-order situation in the country had deteriorated since the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) coalition took over, adding that state institutions were preoccupied with dismantling PTI instead of addressing national challenges.