Ye Pti Ki Sazish Hai
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and its founder, after losing power, seem intent on bringing chaos to the country. They want to see Pakistan’s economic collapse, incite rebellion within the military, and even fantasize about devastating the country. They also sought to sabotage the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in the same way they disrupted the inauguration of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and the Chinese president’s visit ten years ago. This time, the SCO hosted heads of state and delegations from twelve countries, including the Chinese prime minister, with Pakistan hosting an international event for the first time in twenty-seven years.
We saw Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif flanked by the prime ministers of China and Russia. News emerged that the Indian government had coordinated to arrange a seat for their foreign minister, S. Jaishankar, near Pakistan’s Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar. Informal discussions regarding a potential cricket series between Pakistan and India began, and investment projects worth $11 billion in Pakistan were discussed, with several agreements signed during the summit.
PTI aimed to sabotage the event by announcing a protest in Islamabad’s D-Chowk over constitutional amendments right as the summit’s guests were arriving. The government recognized the plot, postponed the amendments until after the conference, and formed a parliamentary committee to address the matter. The proper course of action would have been for PTI to submit their objections and engage in the parliamentary process, especially when the government sought consensus on judicial reforms and constitutional amendments among all political parties, not just Maulana Fazlur Rehman. However, PTI neither submitted any proposals nor participated in discussions and even boycotted the parliamentary committee at one point.
When the constitutional amendments were deferred, PTI spread rumors about its founder’s health and announced another protest—suggesting that protests were the sole objective. Astonishingly, while PTI’s detractors confirmed that the founder was in good health, carrying out his usual activities in prison, PTI trolls spread false reports about his alleged demise. Their aim was to provoke their impulsive supporters, who blindly followed orders, to take to the streets, vandalize, and cause unrest in Islamabad.
This issue was defused when doctors from PIMS hospital examined him and declared him fit, with Barrister Gohar confirming that he even exercised for an hour. PTI trolls responded with thousands of insults, as they were evidently hoping for news of their leader’s death rather than his well-being, becoming angry and disheartened. It was an ugly display, as no one should wish such misfortune even upon an enemy.
The SCO summit was a tremendous success, garnering praise from both friends and foes. Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar even tweeted his appreciation for the event’s organization and hospitality. I saw pictures of him strolling around the Indian embassy in Islamabad, enjoying the city’s clean air, in contrast to the heavily polluted air in India’s capital. This is the same foreign minister who, just a year ago, claimed that Pakistan was irrelevant in global politics. Now, the world’s media showcased nuclear-armed and veto-power countries’ leaders standing alongside Shehbaz Sharif.
The credit for this successful summit goes to Federal Minister for Information, Atta Tarar, who worked tirelessly to project a positive image of Pakistan. He established an international-standard media center, providing all facilities from vlogging to telecasting, and countered every piece of propaganda from enemies of peace, development, and progress. PTI’s attempts to protest during the SCO summit failed for various reasons, as their efforts fizzled out.
PTI understood that besides a few Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police officers, government employees, and some rented Afghan participants, they lacked genuine political activists willing to protest. Many had recognized the party’s true face, some were disillusioned, and others were exhausted from repeated protests. During this time, PTI exploited a fake news story, claiming that a girl had been assaulted by a guard at a Punjab College campus. You may recall how PTI’s media trolls were defeated on August 30 when their call for a student movement, reminiscent of Bangladesh, failed to bring a single student to the streets.
When I assert that PTI was behind this entire campaign, there is context and motive. The context is to incite unrest at a critical moment, ideally in Punjab’s heart, Lahore. The motive is clear: their own supporters were unwilling to take to the streets and face the consequences. The founder’s children are safe abroad, so they aimed to exploit ordinary people’s children. PTI’s social media accounts are filled with fake news. Despite having written an entire column exposing the fabricated nature of the assault case, PTI trolls continue to spread false stories about the girl being in the ICU.
The issue didn’t end there. Outsiders were being assigned through WhatsApp groups to incite students to attack. Over three Punjab College campuses in Lahore were vandalized and burned, with similar planned incidents occurring in Rawalpindi. I will simply say that, just like the events of May 9 failed, this attempt to create unrest based on fake news will also fail, God willing.
