The Friday Times (TFT) editor Najam Sethi said on Friday that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan’s “handlers” in the military had instructed him to target Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah and Major General Faisal.
Sethi made the remarks in flagship Naya Daur TV show Khabar Say Aagay. Khan, on the other hand, had been told to go easy on COAS General Qamar Javed Bajwa, Sethi said.
The veteran journalist said Khan had not been spearheading an anti-establishment movement. The TFT editor said the PTI chairman, to the contrary, merely wanted to become the establishment’s blue-eyed boy again. He said it was common knowledge that Khan had his own “handlers” in the military who had been covertly supporting him. Sethi said he had time and again pointed out how November would prove a crucial month and the military will intervene if violence broke out.
The veteran journalist said cracking that the PTI chairman and Punjab Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi were at loggerheads over the registration of an FIR on the Thursday Wazirabad assassination attempt at the former prime minister required no rocket science. Elahi is very much an establishment man, the TFT editor said.
The TFT editor dubbed Khan’s long march a long walk. He said the PTI chairman had actually been maneuvering for space in connection with the backdoor negotiations underway.
Flagship Naya Daur TV show Khabar Say Aagay broadcasts every Monday to Saturday at 9pm.
The real punishment for his excessive and ruthless campaign would be that all institutions and PDM stay absolutely apolitical and democratic to teach a lesson that however long it takes Fascism cannot be allowed to succeed. Only leaving the democratic path through Parliament open so that no one should ever follow the Fascist path.
In the words of late Benazir “Democracy is the best revenge”. So give Fascism another dose of it.
Question to consider is if elections are due in eleven months and Imran genuinely believes that he is the nation’s choice. Will nation change its mind in 11 months? If it’s a yes or maybe then he ought to rethink what he is saying. If it’s a resounding no then why not go to Parliament and legislate and have your say as Leader of the opposition in important decisions.