‘Imran being advised by ex-spymaster Pasha’

LAHORE: Federal Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid alleged here on Monday that PTI chairman Imran Khan was acting on the advice of former chief of Inter Services Intelligence Ahmed Shuja Pasha. Talking to the media after a consultative meeting of the PML-N, he said some media reports suggested that the former spymaster involved in promotion of the PTI in 2011 had recently met Imran Khan and advised him on the protest plan the cricketer-turned-politician was executing to topple the government. He said the ex-spymaster’s strategy was also to be blamed for the PTI’s defeat in the 2013 general election. Quoting an internal report of the ‘Fact-Finding Committee’ the PTI leadership had formed to probe into the reasons behind its defeat, he said: “Selling out tickets to the people unable to contest the elections” as the main reason behind the routing of the party in the electoral contest. Also read: Govt accuses Musharraf’s friends of being behind chaos He wondered that though Imran was finding rigging complaints only in Punjab, he was bent upon dissolution of elected houses of other provinces as well through his long march. Mr Rashid said there was no chance of imposition of martial law in the country, insisting that all institutions were working in their respective constitutional spheres. He said the rumours of martial law were being spread to defame the armed forces engaged in the North Waziristan operation. He told a questioner that Imran had neither spelled out his demands (or the conditions for calling off his protest) nor the site he had chosen in Islamabad for the stay of “one million followers” he was supposed to lead to the federal capital on Aug 14. He wondered where the marchers would stay and how their food needs and other requirements would be met. Referring to a statement of Tahirul Qadri, the minister said it was government’s responsibility to check the “fanatic” who was ordering beheading of his own workers. He lamented that Imran, who claims to be the champion of justice, had not condemned Qadri’s statement. Federal development and planning minister Ahsan Iqbal said even dictators like Hitler (of Germany) and Mussolini (of Italy) had not issued such orders in the public. He said as the government had information that some grave incident could take place if Qadri’s activities were not checked so the authorities had to take precautionary measures, including placement of containers on various roads, for the public security. He regretted that Imran was denying all the survey reports and opinion polls conducted before the 2013 elections in which the PML-N had been projected as the leading party in the polls. Published in Dawn, Aug 12th, 2014