Curious cases of a few cell phones in Pak history

LAHORE: Contrary to the claims of the prosecution that police are yet to recover Shahbaz Gill’s cell phone to get hold of some vital camera information and precious data, various colleagues of the imprisoned PTI stalwart have categorically stated on record that the said gadget was actually seized at the time of his arrest.

One of the most widely used and sold pieces of consumer technology, these smart phones and the secrets they hide can be extremely intriguing. A peek into Pakistan’s political history and these wireless cell phones shows that on May 16, 2022, Shahbaz Gill had claimed that his party chief Imran Khan’s mobile phones were also stolen from the Sialkot airport after addressing a rally.

In one of his tweets, Gill had also referred to the video of the former prime minister Imran Khan, whereby he had revealed that he had recorded a video, wherein he had named all those involved in the alleged conspiracy of plotting his murder.

Gill had asserted that the video Imran had spoken about was not on the phones that were stolen. History tells us that on November 23, 2011, Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States, Husain Haqqani, had to quit over a scam that had exposed the power tiff between the Asif Zardari-led government and the Army.

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) had filed a petition in the Supreme Court, seeking a probe into the Memogate scandal in November 2011, and on January 9, 2012, Nawaz Sharif had personally appeared before the judicial commission entrusted with the task to probe the issue.

A Pakistani businessman, Mansoor Ijaz, had written an article in the “Financial Times” in October 2011, bringing initial public attention to the Memogate Affair. The memo, which at first was questioned to even exist, was published in November, had led to the resignation of Ambassador Haqqani.

Mansoor had alleged that his long-time friend Haqqani had asked him to deliver a confidential memo to US military Chief Admiral Mike Mullen asking for Washington DC’s assistance. The “Washington Post” had written: “That tension was crystallised by the swirling controversy, which centres on a Pakistani American businessman’s claim that Haqqani orchestrated a memo asking for US help in diminishing the army’s power after the US raid that killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan.