By Shahid Farooq Abbasi – LIPR Ambassador Of Peace based in Islamabad
The clouds of uncertainty are hovering over Pakistan’s political horizon for the past few months and hopes of any reconciliation between both confronting parties, erstwhile PM Imran Khan’s PTI and incumbent opposition alliance are fading away. The political chaos prevailed as the result of the opposition’s successful no-trust vote against then Prime Minister Imran Khan and in return Khan’s un-democratic and un-constitutional maneuvers to retain the power.
After the political change in Islamabad, the opposition coalition is celebrating its juvenile success without having even a trivial insight of impending economic challenges, while Imran Khan is busy fetching maximum public support by instigating anti-American sentiment among the public and staging a narrative of conspiracy that according to him facilitated his unprecedented ouster from the power.
Imran Khan has also called a million march to Islamabad after the 20th of May to pressurize and compel the powerful circles to hold fresh elections in the country. Khan and his supporters are pretty sure that this is the right time to strike the iron hard and the hype that Khan has managed to create may help them thrive against their political opponents if elections are held without any further delay.
Nowadays, Imran Khan is holding mass gatherings across the country and telling another tale of a plot being executed against him, the conspiracy 2.0. Khan is insanely blaming his political opponents and the establishment of the country for hatching a plan to assassinate him, he further added that he had recorded a video message in which he had named all those involved in conspiracies against him and are after his life. According to him, the video message will be released in case conspiracy 2.0 succeeds.
Without intuiting the consequences to the people of Pakistan, Khan continuously builds upon the fictitious narrative of American intrigue and self-presumed interference. In the hangover of his following on social media, Khan has gone to a dangerous extent in order to turn the tide in his favour without considering the fact that history is full of such cult figures meeting the ill fates.
Although all pieces of evidence, analysis, diplomatic recommendations, and intelligence assessments have suggested that there was no such threat letter or interference from any foreign country to remove Imran Khan, he and his cliques are in no mode to admit the truth and continue to fan anti-American sentiments entirely for political gains.
The National Security Council convened its meeting twice that was attended by tri-services chiefs, the intelligence chief, and the most relevant person in the current scenario, Pakistan’s former envoy to the United States, Mr. Asad Majeed Khan. After all the necessary inputs and valuations, it was briefly concluded in NSC’s meetings that there was nothing in the diplomatic cable that can be designated as a threat or interference in Pakistan’s affairs, neither did it has anything to do with the no-trust vote that resulted at an end of the road for the Imran Khan’s government. The fact of the matter is that the change ensued through a wholly political and constitutional procedure.
Later on, DG ISPR in his official capacity nullified the conspiracy rhetoric by stressing that, the NSC’s statement did not include the word “Conspiracy” and that the intelligence agencies and other military institutions are vigilant and working efficiently to thwart any threat and conspiracy against the country. Moreover, after concluding its independent investigations into the matter, Foreign Office also ruled out Imran Khan’s claim.
The Diplomatic cable that is being exploited by the Imran Khan was merely an assessment of Asad Majeed that was made on the basis of his discussions with Donald Lu and some other US officials during an informal meeting at his farewell dinner where Mr. Lu expressed his displeasure over Imran Khan’s government that was quite palpable and implicit in the backdrop of Khan’s outspoken stance against the US’s war against terrorism and the recent Afghan episode.
Another fact that must be considered is that any government that wants to conspire a regime change in another country would never disclose or discuss such a design openly at casual dinners, rather such plans are kept highly confidential and executed under very clandestine environs. So, that will be very absurd to denote a routine diplomatic cable as a threat letter aimed at regime change in Pakistan.
Instead of finding an evasion out of diplomatic communications, Khan must invoke a deep self-introspection to find out the actual causes that led to his downfall. Some of which are very much outward, such as his tall claims proved to be miscarried after coming into power, he has set new examples of miss governance in every field.
He lacked the flexibility that is the key to running a state’s political and foreign affairs. He had no grip over the bureaucracy and his own party members. He failed to provide a proper direction to the foreign policy and unnecessarily locked horns with the major global powers without perceiving its repercussions over the country’s feeble economic condition, and its global standing. Furthermore, his megalomaniac behavior and habit of self-branding turned out to be destructive and a final nail in the coffin of his diminutive term.
As a way forward, Khan must refrain from provoking any chaos in the country, instead, he must behave like a mature politician and wait for the next general elections to contest on the basis of his performance rather than flaunting a bogus tirade against imaginary foreign-funded treachery to get public sympathies and to keep the crowds charged. He must realize that his chronicle of conspiracy is of no use but a road with a dead end.
Such desperate attempts to hang on to the power can undermine the diplomatic gains that the country has made in decades. Delivering ferocious speeches to bring the public and the state institutions to the brink of collision is certainly in no one’s favor but the enemy’s. The constitution and the rule of law must be upheld at all costs and the parliament’s and judicial proceedings must be believed so the democratic progression in the country may go on uninterrupted.
