Imran Khan’s recent interview with HBO has garnered immense favor as Pakistanis took to social media to express their appreciation for PM’s strong words. It seems as if Gen retd. Abdul Qadir Baloch is among PM Khan’s admirers as a Twitter account under his name posted a tweet praising Imran Khan.
On Sunday, HBO aired an interview of Imran Khan conducted by Jonathan Swan. In the interview, Imran Khan assertively made Pakistan’s stance known to the US.
PM Khan was asked by the American journalist for his comments on giving the US access to Pakistan’s military bases.
“Will you allow the American government to have the CIA here in Pakistan to conduct cross border counter-terrorism missions against Al Qaeda, ISIS, and the Taliban?” Swan asked the Prime Minister.
“Absolutely not,” PM Imran Khan responded.
Read more: Pakistan would ‘absolutely not’ allow US bases in Pakistan, PM Khan
These words by Imran Khan have gained immense traction on social media, even from the opposition. This refers to Gen retd. Abdul Qadir Baloch, who allegedly praised Imran Khan on Twitter.
“For the first time in the history of Pakistan, someone has taken a bold stand in front of the United States for which Imran Khan is praised,” he tweeted.
He further urged Pakistanis to work together and strengthen the PM.
https://twitter.com/A_Qadir_Baloch/status/1406621769813958660?s=20
A fake tweet?
Many Twitter users have responded to the Tweet allegedly from Gen retd. Abdul Qadir Baloch. Some users have praised him for rising above politics and giving credit where it is due, and others have bashed him for not condemning the previous government’s decisions to give US military bases.
Among the wave of replies and retweets, one Twitter user has taken a different direction by stating that this is not Gen retd Abdul Qadir Baloch’s real Twitter account, but is in fact, a fake one.
Read more: Twitter suspends fake account of Ehsanullah Ehsan threatening Malala Yousafzai
“This is a fake account. This is not General Abdul Qadir Baloch. General Abdul Qadir Baloch also explained in the newspapers that he has nothing to do with this Twitter account,” the user said.
فیک اکاونٹ ہے یہ جنرل عبدالقادر بلوچ نہیں ہے جنرل عبدالقادر بلوچ نے اخبارات میں بھی وضاحت کی تھی کہ مجھے اس ٹویٹر اکاونٹ سے کوئی تعلق نہیں
— Siraj Ahmed MazarZai (@AhmedMazarzai) June 20, 2021
His comment didn’t garner much attention as Twitteratis continued to reply to the tweet praising Imran Khan.
Propaganda in politics is a norm as various methods such as fake accounts are used to spread false narratives.
This may appear to be the case with the general as he was previously a member of PML-N, and the “fake Twitter account” is being used as propaganda.
Read more: Thousands of fake Twitter accounts of new DG ISPR emerged within Hours of appointment
However, General Abdul Qadir Baloch is yet to comment on this.
The general’s political career
Gen retd. Abdul Qadir Baloch joined PML-N in 2010, and in 2011, was chosen by PML-N as the assistant secretaries-general of the PML-N for Balochistan.
However, on 31st October 2020, Gen retd. Abdul Qadir Baloch decided to resign from the PML-N due to differences with the party’s chief Nawaz Sharif and the party’s decision not to invite former Balochistan Chief Minister Sardar Sanaullah Zehri, also a PML-N leader, to a public gathering of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM).
Read more: Why did PML-N’s Abdul Qadir Baloch leave the party?
Recently, Gen retd. Abdul Qadir Baloch made an official announcement that he is joining Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) for the sake of democracy.