Prime Minister Imran Khan claims Pakistan’s former Prime Minister and supremo of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Nawaz Sharif, is a traitor. In his latest TV interview with a prominent anchorperson, Imran Khan Riaz, the premier said that “I know Nawaz Sharif is a traitor and I have information about it”. The premier also explained that the information he has cannot be presented before a court of law. “The information once gets from agencies cannot be presented before the courts,” he added.
PM Imran Khan calls his political rival Nawaz Sharif a traitor. Says he has info but that wouldn't stand in a court of law.
There are millions who voted for Nawaz Sharif and in 2020 they are not buying the traitor narrative, or this chooran!
https://t.co/bv44UIKx7P— Raza Ahmad Rumi (@Razarumi) November 12, 2020
Is Nawaz deliberately targeting Armed Forces?
Earlier in an interview with journalist Nadeem Malik on Samaa TV, the premier said that Nawaz was playing a dangerous game. “This is a dangerous game Nawaz is playing; Altaf Hussain played the same game,” he said, adding that he was “100 percent” sure that India was helping the PML-N leader.
عمران خان کا بار بار نواز شریف پر بھارت کی مدد حاصل کرنے کا الزام ، الطاف حسین قرار دے دیا !!!@ImranKhanPTI #NadeemMalikLive #Pakistan #SamaaTv pic.twitter.com/YkI34nByGu
— Nadeem Malik 🇵🇰 (@nadeemmalik) October 1, 2020
Amir Mateen, a prominent Pakistani journalist, argued in a TV show that Nawaz Sharif is deliberately targeting the armed forces of Pakistan. “Nawaz and Maryam have crossed all the limits and leaving no stone unturned in defaming and targeting the country’s armed forces,” he opined.
Mateen also maintained that Ayaz Sadiq’s statement was not a matter of slip of the tounge. “Nawaz appreciates those who target armed forces and defame the army leadership,” he said. Notably, PML-N’s Ayaz Sadi had said that “I remember Shah Mahmood Qureshi was in the meeting in which Imran Khan had refused to attend and Chief of Army Staff General Bajwa came into the room, his legs were shaking and he was. Foreign Minister said for God’s sake let Abhinandan go, India’s about to attack Pakistan at 9 pm”. Not only the foreign minister but also DG ISPR rubbished the statement.
Read more: Former ambassador Haqqani booked in three FIRs
It is important to mention here that Nawaz Sharif named the Army Chief and DG ISI for political engineering in the country. “General Bajwa is responsible for installing incompetent Imran Khan,” he said while addressing PDM rally from London. “Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa, you packed up our government, which was working well, and put the nation and the country at the altar of your wishes,” Sharif told the gathering Gujranwala.
PM Khan on Hussain Haqqani’s role
Prime Minister Khan also revealed that “Hussain Haqqani runs Nawaz’s communication strategy”. Notably, a treason case was registered against Pakistan’s former ambassador to the United States Hussain Haqqani. Mr. Haqqani has allegedly conspired against the state during his tenure as ambassador to the USA in 2008. A First Information Report (FIR) has been lodged against the former ambassador on the complaint of lawyer Molvi Iqbal Haider in Perredy Police Station.
It is alleged that a week after the Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan, Mr. Haqqani who was serving as Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States communicated with a Pakistani-American businessman Mansoor Ijaz to convey a message to the Americans. The message was passed on the request of the then-president of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari. The message was that Pakistan’s military was conspiring against the civilian government to topple it down.
The message was passed by Mr. Ijaz who later on shared all the details in a piece he wrote for the Financial Times in October 2011. It was also mentioned that the message was conveyed to Admiral Michael Mullen, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the US military. The memo also mentioned the military’s weak position after Bin Laden saga and a “unique window of opportunity” for the Zardari-led PPP government to bring the men-in-uniform in control.
Amidst the controversy, Mr. Haqqani resigned from the ambassadorship but denied all the allegations leveled against him. He came back to Pakistan and was accused of high treason. The government initiated a parliamentary investigation to probe into the matter. The Supreme Court of Pakistan, however, ordered to form a judicial commission on the basis of a petition filed by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). Haqqani was earlier not allowed to leave the country but later on the SC allowed him to go abroad.
Read more: Why Hussain Haqqani is considered a traitor by Pakistanis?
The commission completed its investigation and found that Haqqani indeed wrote a memo and the underlying purpose was to ensure the United States that the civilian government in Islamabad was her ally. It was also claimed in the report that the former ambassador was not loyal to Pakistan. The SC did not give any weigh to the report, terming it as merely opinions of the members. Mr. Haqqani is known as “The Last Friendly Pakistani” and “an instinctive ally of the west” in the western media for his political position on various domestic and global issues.