Recently, Imran Khan has claimed that the opposition’s no-trust move was part of an alleged “foreign-funded conspiracy” hatched against his government. He made these allegations at his party’s power show titled Amr Bil Maroof (enjoin the good) in Islamabad on March 27. However, at that time he refused to give details in this regard.
Today we have a lot of details. We all know that the letter was sent by the then Pakistani ambassador to the United States (US) and an American diplomat – whose name has also come to light – gave him this threatening message during a meeting.
Imran Khan’s statement at present consists of two points. First: there is a foreign conspiracy against his government and the US is trying to topple his government. The second part of his statement is related to the opposition. His second argument is that US diplomats have met with opposition leaders and dissident members of parliament in the past few weeks.
Imran Khan said that the opposition is part of this foreign conspiracy and is being used to overthrow the government. He also pointed out that foreign funding was provided for the no-confidence motion. Now Imran Khan and his associates are calling their political opponents in parliament enemies and traitors.
Let’s see how true this statement is. First, the historical fact is that the United States has changed governments in many countries and is essentially an irresponsible superpower that has been accustomed to some degree of interference in different countries. So we can suspect the United States. However, it remains to be seen whether they are involved in the current situation.
In this case, at least, it is clear that a very inappropriate non-diplomatic message was sent by the United States. There is no justification for that. Some former diplomats have said that such threats are sometimes received informally and sometimes formally, but obviously, it is disliked and sometimes harshly responded to.
Now, it is clear that in a meeting with the Pakistani diplomat, a US State Department official made these threatening remarks. It could be argued, however, that it was an official threat or the diplomat’s personal statement. Meanwhile, the United States has denied the allegations in a statement issued on Friday. The Americans should take action against their diplomat for making such a serious threat without permission.
Pakistan can demand this from the diplomatic channels if it wants. Personally, I still do not understand whether the United States threatened the Pakistani state or Prime Minister Imran Khan? If Imran Khan was threatened then why? The United States is angry with the Pakistani government for not openly condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and for taking a neutral stance.
In the eyes of the Americans, Pakistan should stand with the West on the issue of Ukraine. Pakistan did not do that. The Americans got angry and started threatening us. It makes sense. But the question is why Imran Khan? Everyone knows the extent to which the Pakistani Prime Minister has authority in national security and foreign affairs.
These policies are made by the Establishment and the civilian Prime Minister whether he is Nawaz Sharif, Yousuf Raza Gilani, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi or Imran Khan, they all own it, but they do not have the power to dictate it. Even Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto could not change the authority of the Establishment of National Security Policies.
In this context, why this threat was given to Imran Khan? Going to Russia was not his own decision, it included the input of the Establishment. Chinese cooperation was also involved in this visit. After deliberation, a unanimous decision was taken and Prime Minister Imran Khan visited Russia. It’s not that Americans are unaware of all this. They know Pakistan Power Centers very well. They have a long experience of dealing with Islamabad and Pindi. The question for me is why Imran?
Who was the threat to? In my personal opinion, this threat was to the state and state institutions instead of the government of Pakistan or the Prime Minister. Because they formulate national security policies, they play a decisive role in it. In the “threatening letter” (since we have not read the post, there is no definitive assessment of its nature or severity) the Pakistani state has been warned that what they have done is unforgivable, and highly undesirable.
This, of course, includes a kind of concession that we know that a no-confidence motion is coming up in Pakistan. If the government changes, we will forget all this. In other words, it was meaningfully indicated that we (knowing the truth) would blame the Prime Minister for everything and forget the issue. Take care in the future and fix your policy i.e. stand with the West, if you do not want economic problems etc. for yourself.
Are the Americans involved in the conspiracy? This is the most important question. Imran Khan has openly accused the United States of conspiring to topple his government and they have used Opposition as a tool in this regard. My question then is how Imran Khan or any civilian Prime Minister becomes so powerful that a world power like the USA wants to get rid of him and even conspire for it.
The second question is that even if the Americans wanted a change of government in Pakistan, the easiest way for them was to talk directly to the Establishment, to put pressure on them to overthrow the regime. Especially in the current situation when Imran Khan was the Prime Minister with a majority of barely eight to ten votes. His government was based on the crutches of three allies who are totally being controlled by the Establishment.
Is the opposition involved in the conspiracy? This is a very important question. I think the answer is no because I would like very strong and solid evidence for such a big allegation. To me, it is impossible that the opposition parties in the country are an enemy of the country and a tool of foreign power.
These are the opposition leaders who laid the foundation of big projects in the country, from motorways to various projects. Those who planned CPEC, started this game-changer project, pushed it forward, encouraged the Chinese. Simultaneously maintain relations with Russia, China, USA, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Iran etc.
Their style could be critical of the government. I am ungrateful to all of them. The transparency of their governments and ministers can be questioned, and there are many corruption scandals, but all of a sudden it would take extraordinary boldness, arrogance, and foolish courage to call them unpatriotic and traitors.
