Imran Khan’s latest X post poses risk to dialogue with govt, backchannel talks
Ex-PM again posts aggressive remarks on his social media account.
Gandapur, Gohar “request Khan to stop” making anti-army remarks.
Khan’s post on his X account disappoints quite a few within PTI.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan’s latest post on X (formerly Twitter), targeting top military command, has again risked both the formal dialogue and backchannel talks between the former ruling party and the government and establishment.
The former prime minister is unstoppable despite having been advised even after the latest meeting of the army chief with PTI leaders that he should not target the army and its command to help talks succeed.
But Khan again posted an aggressive post on his social media account. “This [Imran Khan’s social media statements] is the biggest hurdle in moving forward,” a senior PTI leader lamented while talking to this correspondent on condition of not being named.
A source close to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur disclosed that the CM requested Khan to avoid attacking the army and its command in view of the recent breakthrough in the backchannel dialogue process, during their last meeting at Adiala jail.
The source said that PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar also made a similar request to Khan but again a hard-hitting statement was issued on jailed PTI leader’s social media account.
Khan was also advised by his leaders to stop the PTI overseas chapter from running any anti-army campaign.
Similar requests were made to Khan even before but all such requests fell on deaf ears.
Gandapur and Gohar had recently met Army Chief General Asim Munir in Peshawar. Khan himself confirmed this development while talking to reporters and termed it a welcoming development.
Most of the PTI leaders were also excited about this development amid hopes that backchannel talks with the establishment would continue and bring some relief for the PTI.
But Khan’s tweet on his X account on Friday disappointed quite a few within the PTI. There has been even discussion among some leaders how to stop Khan’s social media account from spoiling what the PTI has achieved after so long.
While the PTI was expecting follow-up backchannel meetings after the recent breakthrough, now they are not sure how the establishment would respond after Khan’s latest tweet.
On Friday, Khan’s message following his conviction in a £190 million case was posted on his X account. His message urged the nation to read the Hamoodur Rahman Commission report. “The history of 1971 is being repeated in Pakistan. Yahya Khan destroyed the country, and today, the dictator is doing the same to protect his dictatorship and personal gains, pushing the country to the brink of destruction.”
There is a realisation among PTI’s second-tier leadership that if Khan continues his aggressive posture towards the establishment, it will hurt the dialogue process — both public and backchannel.
An earlier aggressive tweet from Khan had already jolted the dialogue process once. It was not expected after PTI leaders meeting with the army chief but Khan did it again.
Owing to the aggressive use of Khan’s social media account in the past, PTI leaders have urged him to bring control of Khan’s as well as PTI’s official social media accounts back to Pakistan from abroad to ensure that they are not used to fuel the fire.
According to a PTI leader those controlling these accounts from abroad even exaggerate Khan’s view and as a result, create more problems for the party and its leadership. He, however, agreed that Khan never snubbed such elements.