ISLAMABAD: Minister for Planning, Development, and Special Initiatives Asad Umar Tuesday said Prime Minister Imran Khan is ready to share the “threat letter” that “carries the evidence of foreign-funded conspiracies to topple the government” with Chief Justice of Pakistan, Umar Ata Bandial.
Addressing a press conference along with Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry, Umar said keeping the sensitivity of letter in mind, only a few selected people in the civil-military leadership have seen the letter.
The planning minister said there was a need to explain the “letter” that the prime minister had talked about in the March 27 rally, but it could not be shown publicly due to its “sensitive nature”.
He said since the chief justice of Pakistan is the highest office of justice in Pakistan, it is a huge position that has respect in this country, the letter can be shared with him, if anyone has any doubt about it.
“I have seen this letter myself and a few members of the federal cabinet have seen it as there are laws that dictate sharing such sensitive documents,” he maintained.
Sharing the details of the letter, Umar said it was worth mentioning that the letter was dated even before the Opposition had submitted the no-confidence motion in the NA Secretariat.
“It is important as this letter clearly mentioned the no-confidence motion. It was also written that if the no-confidence motion fails and the prime minister remains in power, it can have severe consequences,” he said, referring to the threat PM Imran Khan mentioned in the rally.
Moreover, the minister said, contents of the letter termed the ouster of PM Imran a “good result”.
The letter also mentioned Pakistan’s foreign policy, Umar said, without elaborating what it said.
“No-confidence motion and foreign hand are interlinked, these are not two separate things,” the federal minister said.
Umar said without a doubt, former prime minister and PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif is involved in the “conspiracy” against PM Imran Khan.
“When the prime minister wants, he will reveal more details about Nawaz’s activities, and it has already been reported in the media whom the PML-N leader has met in the recent days,” Umar said.
While referring to the demands of sharing contents of the letter, he said, “national secrets are very sensitive in nature and there are clear laws on with whom these could be shared”.
Umar further said the letter had only been shared with the top civil and military leadership and a few members of the federal cabinet.
The information minister said the PML-N supremo is in London and he has met officials from the “intelligence agencies of other countries”.
Chaudhry said this was one of the reasons why he was against sending Nawaz abroad as people like him become “puppets of international establishment”.
“He met Israel’s ambassador as well,” Chaudhry said.
Chaudhry further clarified that it was not a “judicial function” of the CJP to review the contents of the letter. The letter would not be shared with him in the capacity of a judge of the SC, but as someone who held a high and respectable position in the country, he added.
He is an elder of the country, the minister said.
The federal minister said the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM)’s leadership is aware of the letter as they had repeatedly mentioned “that matters have settled”, Umar said, without going into further details.
The federal minister expressed hope that several lawmakers, from the Opposition and the government, might rethink their position and side with PM Imran Khan during the voting on the no-confidence motion after this development.
“Until now, they were unaware, but now, they have been informed about the letter. So, it is up to them to decide whether they will side with forces working against Pakistan or not,” he added.
Chaudhry said this is “not a new thing” as earlier ex-prime minister Liaquat Ali Khan was assassinated, former premier Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was prosecuted, and former military ruler Gen Ziaul Haq lost his life in a plane crash.
The information minister said that the decisions taken in the past were part of Pakistan’s history. “But now, Pakistan has a leader who is not attending foreign phone calls and is connected with the people.”
While talking about so-called YouTubers, who for the sake of rating started vlogging while sharing letter of European Union, he said “Some so-called senior journalists have started vlogging, whose programmes do not get ratings, and have started sharing the letter of the European Union.”
Chaudhry said the letter of the European Union was already public, adding that the media “does not have the letter”.
“Please learn how to verify news from young reporters,” he added.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
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