Renewed efforts to cool down Imran against establishment

ISLAMABAD: There are some renewed efforts being made from within the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and by the Punjab chief minister to stop party Chairman Imran Khan from confronting the military establishment.

Informed sources said that from the PTI, the person who is working really hard in this respect is Faisal Vawda. Pervez Khattak is also making efforts.

From the PMLQ — the coalition partner of PTI in Punjab — Pervaiz Elahi and his son Moonis Elahi are also pressing Imran to cool down. The PTI chairman is being advised that confrontation with the establishment will not benefit the party or him. He is warned that it will be damaging for the PTI as well as for the institution and the country.

These sources indicate that these efforts may soften Imran vis-a-vis the military establishment and in the coming days such a change could be noticed. Interestingly, there are many in the PTI leadership, who are unhappy with Imran’s aggression towards the establishment but only a few dare to talk about this on PTI chief’s face.

There are some hawkish elements in the party who not only endorse Imran’s hard talk against the military but also poison him with conspiracy theories and wrong information in order to fuel the confrontation. Strangely Imran, during the recent weeks and months, has been more inclined to the advice of hawkish elements than those who have been warning him of the risks and dangers linked with the policy of confrontation.

Of late, in a high-level party meeting, Faisal Vawda had warned Imran that some senior leaders around him are playing the role of snake in the grass to get him disqualified and pave the way for their possible premiership.

It is argued that when the PTI chairman speaks against the military leadership, it makes the party’s social media and Imran’s followers uncontrollable and for the same reason they have been supporting highly obnoxious trends against the military and its top command. Such trends have really been damaging for the institution but rarely any of the PTI leader condemned its social media activists and followers. Instead, they have always been praised as “social media warriors” of Imran.

Although, the PTI leadership generally distanced itself from the sickening trends against the military’s high command on Twitter during the recent months, a report on negative propaganda against the army on social media following the Lasbela helicopter crash discovered 178 accounts linked to the PTI.

After an investigation, the media reports said, social media activists and their handlers were tracked down. Over 2,350 posts were made through 580 accounts, and the campaign also included 18 Indian accounts.

After an Army Aviation helicopter went missing in Lasbela during a relief operation in flooded areas, a smear campaign was launched against the Pakistan Army. Several PTI social media activists have apologised for their actions.

There is a realisation among some in the PTI leadership that the party’s social media team and followers could not be left unrestrained and there is a need that they should be checked and guided for not crossing red-lines vis-a-vis any state institution. However, such a policy could only be adopted following the approval of Imran Khan, who considers his party’s social media following as critically important for his politics and popularity.