Okay Imran Khan, you win this time. Corruption is indeed eating us inside out. You moved the Supreme Court against the Prime Minister for his family’s names mentioned in the Panama Leaks, which the worthy institution has accepted and summoned Prime Minister Nawaz Shareef and other federal ministers for a hearing. The Prime Minister has readily agreed to it, despite being in a powerful position to decline it. But you still remain determined to stick to your plan to march towards the capital, to seal all offices and to not leave without the government being toppled. I understand that for you, corruption is everything. Many times you have mentioned that the premiers from Iceland and UK have tendered their resignations over Panama scandal, even though in case of the latter, it wasn’t Panama that made David Cameron resign, it was Brexit. But it is alright. I understand politics is a game of power; however, I do have a question for you and that is, since you yourself admitted in May this year that you owned a flat in London through an offshore country to evade taxes, and your own spokesman Naeem ul Haq said that the flat remained in your name, you are ready, in principle, to forgo all that. Is it just because your name didn’t show up in Panama scandal? Is it also for this reason why Jehangir Tareen’s and Aleem Khan’s proven corruption cannot be considered?
No sir, I am not implying at all that Nawaz Shareef is innocent, but since the Supreme Court has taken up the matter, wouldn’t it be wiser to wait for the verdict and the due process of the law to take place? Or is it just that you fear that if the verdict goes against you for a weak case, you yourself might get into trouble. How strange will it be if the Supreme Court disqualified the sitting Prime Minister, and you would heartily accept it without questioning the credibility once. Is it only when the state institutions work in your favor that they are credible? But of course, you have a right to take the position of the sitting judge by telling us with such strong conviction that corruption has indeed taken place. That is fair.
The parliament too is not credible, as proclaimed by you; but neither you nor your party members have rendered any resignations, or returned the salaries for all the sessions your party boycotted throughout the tenure until now. There, I will not question your moral ground, because corruption should be eliminated and I stand with you on that. Even though this government has performed a lot better than its predecessors with whom you have unsuccessfully tried to ally with for this cause. The IMF Chief has recently stated that Pakistan has safely come out of its economical crisis. Please explain to me, do you have a backup plan for dragging us back to economic crisis once you seal the capital for days, or even months? Last time, you almost cost us the CPEC deal, I wonder what else we will be suffering this time.
However, I do have another question, and that is with regards to Quetta carnage where dozens of our Police cadets lost their lives, and scores of others wounded who are still fighting for their lives at hospitals. The brutal attack was claimed by Lashker-e-Jhangvi Global. Do you know how long it takes for one cadet to qualify from the academy? Do you realize the agony of his mother and brokenhearted father who had dreamed for their child to grow big and successful? Or did you not hear the shrieks of his young widow? Or the anxiousness of a child watching out the window waiting endlessly for his father to return and bring him toys? I don’t think you realize how many families, how many members of the families and how many of his strong affiliations were shattered when they heard the news. And these are sixty martyred cadets we are talking about. The grieving city needed assurance of solidarity and compassion. It was time to give them a message that we are all united in this hour of great distress. But you were adamant for your march. You were more concerned about corruption. And you were more desperate to oust the Prime Minister. And this is where I lost all my respect for you. I was critical of you before, but I condemn you now at a time when your nation is grieving. To make your stance even more substantial, you very conveniently exposed your own gullibility by implying that every time you planned a sit-in, either cross border firing and tensions with India take place, or a terrorist attack occurs to sabotage the cause. But of course, these attacks and tensions with India are really no justification to stop the anti-corruption march which is far greater than our grave security concerns. I would also add that the human rights abuses by India in Kashmir and the fallout with Uri attack were all a very well thought-out plan hatched between Modi and Nawaz Shareef to destroy you. However, one must not ignore that these theories can come back and bite you with others who can say, on the same grounds as yours, that all this has been happening, including the bloodshed of our children at APS massacre, to make you stronger and look more genuine with your claims, and that can make you a beneficiary as well. You see, it is that simple.
Let’s move on to what else you said in your press conference.
You said that the Prime Minister is responsible for the security lapses in the country. You also said that the Prime Minister is also responsible for the security leaks with Almeida’s story that showed the tension between the army and the government. And you also added that Nawaz Shareef didn’t say a word about RAW agent caught in Balochistan, at his General Assembly address at the UN in September this year. May I ask if you knew that Pakistan had indeed submitted the dossier of proofs against India with the UN Secretary General long before his address to the UN? May I also ask you if you knew that had Pakistan openly mentioned the RAW spy at the Assembly, it would have put our military at an embarrassing situation by having to respond to equally convincing counter-attacks by rival country about their involvement in Indian held Kashmir.
If you deny that Pakistan has any militant involvement in Occupied Kashmir, then pray tell us why you have been endorsing Difa-e-Pakistan Council, a band of extremist groups, whose sole mission is to wage jihad in Kashmir. You also supported and endorsed Lashker-e-Jhangvi and sectarian outfits, but changed your rhetoric only when army stopped supporting them. If not true, then allow me to be a bit more specific; why have you not once condemned Masood Azhar or Hafiz Saeed for exporting jihad to India? Is it not true that in 2012 Difa-e-Council meeting, your then vice-president Ejaz Chowdery delivered your message of endorsement for their rally, that also hosted Malik Ishaq? Did it not too totally go against what you said in your interview with Karan Thapar in November 2011? You said that in your reign as Prime Minister, there wouldn’t be any militancy exported to Kashmir from Pakistan’s side. Further you said:
“If Tehreek-e-Insaaf government comes to power we will insist on there being no militant groups operating within Pakistan because the world has changed. So, the groups that were created during the Afghan jihad, now this is an outdated concept of having them as assets."
But two years later, the first thing your party did since coming to power in 2013, was to illegally stop NATO supplies to Afghanistan over killing of Taliban leader.
You said Nawaz Shareef is trying to insult and degrade our armed forces. But the transcript of your interview with Karan Thapar also says something damaging to the state’s narrative, and especially to the armed forces cause. Please refer to this:
“Karan Thapar: So you see it (Kashmir) in human rights term and not as a territorial dispute?
Imran Khan:Yes.
Karan Thapar: That's why you didn't use the prefix Indian Occupied? (with reference to his famous public rally on Oct 30, 2011).
Imran Khan: Yes."
Well if this wasn’t meant to discredit our military’s stance on taking Kashmir as a territorial dispute (and that includes all of our establishment’s steps towards it), then why is Nawaz Shareef’s alleged leak to Dawn considered as something anti-army?
Well, all the questions aside, in your press conference, you said something extraordinary, you gave a dangerous implication. You said Nawaz Shareef is a security risk for the country. For as serious an allegation against the Prime Minister, should that not also be petitioned with the Supreme Court calling for a judicial enquiry into this matter? I ask, why should you not call for a complete accountability march for security lapses of our government instead? Why not ask for clarification for what Mehmood Achakzai meant by blaming the security agencies for their security lapses? Why not ask Nawaz Shareef about the Almeida leaks about the tensions between the civil government and the army? Why has the military not been taking action against all terrorist groups here? Why don’t you begin with accountability of yourself before you point to the Prime Minister for having strong endorsement and links with jihadist and extremist outfits? I will totally support you for your anti-terrorism cause.
But I am sure, while you can easily get away with implying the Prime Minister to be promoting terror attacks or cross-border fire without any substantial proof, you would never dare a march for his accountability for security and causes of terrorism. Because to you, anti-corruption stance is more convenient to topple a government than calling for an anti-terrorism march. And that is for sure.
I’m not saying, Mr. Imran Khan, that I do not support you. If it were you as the prime minister in our elected parliament, I would still be condemning the undemocratic ways adopted to topple your government.