Sindh’s senior minister for information has appealed to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and other relevant state agencies to take action to close the social media accounts of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan for posting content to defame the country’s armed forces despite spending time in jail.
Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Sharjeel Memon lamented that a day earlier Khan had used his X (formerly Twitter) account to post a misleading video that unduly presented Bangladesh founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as a hero.
Memon said the PTI founder has been trying to do politics based on the 1971 tragedy. “Imran Khan has not been fighting against any political party, institution or general; rather, he is opposed to Pakistan,” he pointed out.
“This person has been imposed on us to carry out the anti-Pakistan agenda. That is why his aim is to bring harm to our country.” The minister condemned what he termed is an attempt on the part of Khan to use the 1971 tragedy to gain his vicious political interests.
He said the PTI has been involved in distorting the facts of the Fall of Dhaka to propagate a false narrative on this tragedy. The social media accounts associated with the PTI have been posting edited videos to bring disrepute to national institutions, he added.
He also said Khan has been particularly indulging in defaming a national institution in total disregard for the fact that he has received undue favours in the past from the same quarters. “You [Khan] have been busy campaigning against the same quarters that in the past extended favours to you. If these favours weren’t extended to you, your stature would not have been more than that of a cricket celebrity.”
He lamented that the PTI founder, who used to praise the army when he was in government, started threatening the same institution after his ouster from power. “This person has been attempting to blackmail national institutions so they follow his directions.” Memon said that there has been a drastic change in Khan’s attitude towards national institutions after he was ousted from power through a no-confidence motion. He claimed that the PTI founder is involved in conspiracies against the country, as he has resumed his efforts to mislead Pakistani youth.
He pointed out that politicians around the world also issue statements against their opponents, but Khan’s political conduct is utterly unmatched and misleading. He recalled that the PTI had hired the services of international lobbying firms to harm Pakistan.
He censured the campaign orchestrated by Khan to discredit the Special Investment Facilitation Council. He recalled that Khan had used insulting language against his political opponents Mahmood Khan Achakzai and Maulana Fazlur Rehman, while Khan is currently trying to use the two politicians for his own political gains.
He mentioned that the PTI founder had once been ready to grant a lifetime extension to the service of the then army chief if the latter had agreed to extend unconstitutional support to perpetuate the former’s rule in the country.
He recalled that Khan had cursed the politicians who had parted ways with the PTI by saying that their children would remain unmarried for life due to a lack of marriage proposals. “There is a new trend these days in Pakistani politics that involves a person threatening to launch a campaign against a national institution if he is not brought into power.”
He told the media persons that members of the Pakistan Peoples Party have never resorted to victimisation of their political opponents despite suffering persecution themselves.