Commission to investigate ‘regime change conspiracy’: Alvi says will forward former PM’s letter to PM and CJP

ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi Tuesday said he would forward the letter of former prime minister Imran Khan to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial seeking the formation of a judicial commission to probe and investigate into the alleged regime change conspiracy.

The president has called for a thorough probe and investigation into the alleged regime change conspiracy by recording circumstantial evidence to reach a logical conclusion and provide clarity to the people of Pakistan.

In reply to a letter from Khan, the president informed him about sending his (Khan’s) letter to Prime Minister Shehbaz as well as to the Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial “with the request that the latter may constitute an empowered judicial commission to conduct open hearings in this regard”.

Khan had earlier written a letter to President Alvi and CJP Bandial requesting a public inquiry and the formation of a judicial commission respectively to probe the “threat letter,” which he claimed was evidence of a “conspiracy” to topple his government.

In a letter to former prime minister Khan, the president insisted that a thorough probe into the regime change conspiracy should be conducted. He wrote that he had read the copy of the cypher sent by the then Ambassador of Pakistan to the United States of America, containing an official summary of a meeting held in the Pakistan Embassy between Donald Lu, US Assistant Secretary of State along with another US official, our ambassador with a note-taker, and other diplomats of the Pakistan Mission.

He said that the report in the cypher included some statements made by Lu in quotes specifically mentioning a “no-confidence motion” against the prime minister, and also mentioned “forgiveness” if it succeeded, and dire consequences if the said motion failed.

The president also referred to the two meetings of the National Security Committee that had endorsed that the statements of Lou amounted to unacceptable and blatant interference in the internal affairs of Pakistan and the Government of Pakistan had rightly issued a demarche.

He underscored that threats could both be covert and overt and in this particular case, it was clearly communicated in undiplomatic language. He noted that the former prime minister had raised serious issues of possible covert reactions and ramifications of the threat.

In his letter, the president continued that he was of the belief that for a sovereign nation, a proud independent nation like Pakistan, and a people whose dignity had been deeply hurt; an in-depth analysis and investigation must be done to inquire into what may or may not have been a preparation, starting before or following the overt threat, for a possible conspiracy to change the regime in our country.

The president also highlighted that in the history of Pakistan, people had alleged and strongly believed in many obvious but, unfortunately, unproven conspiracies. In this regard, he cited the examples of the murder of the first PM of Pakistan Liaquat Ali Khan in Rawalpindi, the Agartala Conspiracy case, PM Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s public waving of a letter and allegation of a conspiracy against him, President ZiaulHaq’s plane crash, Ojheri disaster, Abbottabad Conspiracy case, and many others that remained inconclusive.

The president said that sometimes top-secret archives that were declassified after decades, or revelations by informed people, or documents that had emerged in “leaks”, did provide a “smoking gun” kind of link to events and conspiracies on the world stage. He regretted that it happened much later, after the destinies of those countries had been significantly damaged by such illegal interventions.

The president emphasized that proving a “smoking gun” had been identified “in the hand of a conspirator”, or finding a possible money trail or identifying meetings where people had been motivated towards covert action or where people had been bought and sold, would be a vigorous exercise. He stated that even recorded circumstantial evidence could lead the way towards some conclusions and provide closure to the people of Pakistan who deserved clarity.

Underscoring the need for a full investigation into the matter, he informed Imran Khan that he was sending his letter to the prime minister of Pakistan as well as to the chief justice of Pakistan, with the request that the latter may constitute an empowered Judicial Commission to conduct open hearings in this regard.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022