‘US-backed regime-change conspiracy’: Why has ISPR again raised the issue, asks PTI

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Wednesday reacted strongly to a statement by the military regarding the US conspiracy of regime change in the country, saying it was beyond comprehension why there was a need to address the issue again through the platform of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).

Speaking at a presser, PTI secretary general Asad Umar and Shireen Mazari, in response to DG ISPR Maj Gen Babar Iftikhar’s renewed rejection of former prime minister and the PTI chairman Imran Khan’s claim that a US-backed regime-change conspiracy was behind his ouster from the top office, Umar said the DG ISPR rightly says that the army should be kept away from politics and he appeals to political parties to not involve the army in politics, which is right.

“Now whether this imported regime has or hasn’t come through interference or conspiracy, let political parties talk to each other about this. But now that he has spoken so it is necessary to give a response,” he added.

Umar said that he was a part of that first National Security Committee (NSC) meeting and while the diplomatic letter was being read out, a military representative had called for facts and opinions to be viewed separately.

Elaborating on those facts, he said it was written that a clear threat was given to Pakistan that if the no-confidence motion against Imran failed, the country would face isolation and difficulties.

“What I am saying was not once, but twice mentioned in the press release after the NSC meetings [and] words of a clear foreign interference are used and it was said that this isn’t at all acceptable,” he added.

“This is a fact on which there are no two opinions.”

Umar said the NSC meeting did not have the answer to whether the foreign interference was part of a conspiracy or not, adding the DG ISPR was right that some military officials did not see the evidence of a conspiracy.

However, he said that many of the civilian leaders in the NSC meeting had the opinion that a conspiracy was present.

Mentioning the efforts made by the PTI in pursuing the formation of a judicial commission for the “cypher-gate affair”, Umar appealed to the Supreme Court to oblige and added that Imran had decided to again write to the Chief Justice of Pakistan, Umar Ata Bandial, to urge him to oversee the matters.

“Let me reiterate that let politicians deal with political matters. If the DG ISPR doesn’t think it necessary to repeatedly explain political matters, I think it will be better for the military and the country,” he maintained.

Umar said he had “great love for the military” along with longstanding familial links with the institution, but he said that did not mean that the army’s opinion on the constitutional responsibilities of the civilian leadership could be considered the final word.

Mazari also disagreed with the DG ISPR’s version of the events, saying that contrary to his claim, no detailed intelligence report was presented in the NSC meeting.

She said that it was an opinion that it was an interference not a conspiracy, but saying those who disagree with this opinion are telling lies is an insult.

She said that the PTI raised a major question on the point on which the cipher started — which meant that the decision to visit Russia was solely Imran Khan’s — but it has not been responded to as yet.

“There was a consensus of the entire establishment and retired ambassadors on the visit at the time on who fed the wrong information to the US government that they started the cipher with this matter,” she added.

She said that the party is preparing a list and compiling incidents before the no-confidence motion on when and which American embassy officials met the PTI dissidents and Noor Alam.

“Why did they meet Raja Riaz. Did they meet to discuss foreign policy,” she questioned.

Mazari further stated that the third question was why then foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi was kept unaware of the cipher. The cipher was shown to the foreign minister only when he demanded, she added.

“If the military leadership found that it was interference while the entire civilian leadership believed it was a conspiracy then someone has to find the answer on this,” she added.

Mazari said that the nation wants to know who made the conspiracy and who was involved in it because it ruined the economy of Pakistan, while a political turmoil persists in Punjab.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022