Lawmakers from across the political spectrum closed ranks behind Pakistan\u2019s armed forces on Sunday, criticising the PTI for what they described as an orchestrated attempt to malign state institutions and an alleged conspiracy against Pakistan.<\/p>\n
A day earlier, the PTI had lashed out at a press briefing by the military\u2019s media wing, calling it \u201cinappropriate and unfortunate\u201d after the spokesperson accused incarcerated Imran Khan of being a \u201cnarcissist\u201d and a \u201cmentally ill person\u201d who was edging into \u201csecurity threat\u201d territory through his persistent anti-army rhetoric.<\/p>\n
Taking to the X platform, PML-N leader and Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal called Imran\u2019s political rhetoric \u201ca deeply irresponsible and dangerous trend that seeks to undermine Pakistan\u2019s state institutions, weaken national cohesion, and erode public trust in the armed forces who defend our borders with courage and sacrifice.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPolitical differences are part of any democracy\u2014but when politics crosses the line into anti-state narrative building, deliberate misinformation, and attacks on the integrity of Pakistan\u2019s Armed Forces and its leadership, it threatens the stability, security, and unity of the country,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n
Iqbal added that no leader had the right to weaponise divisive rhetoric for personal gain at the cost of Pakistan\u2019s national security.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Pakistan Army is a professional, disciplined, and patriotic institution that has stood as the shield of this nation, from fighting terrorism to defending territorial sovereignty.<\/p>\n
\u201cAttempting to malign the armed forces or create discord between the people and their defenders serves only the agenda of Pakistan\u2019s enemies,\u201d he said, adding that he \u201cstrongly condemned Imran\u2019s \u201ccontinued politics of hate, distortion, and incitement against the state and state institutions.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018Another conspiracy against Pakistan?\u2019 \u2014 MQM-P
\nThe leadership of Muttah\u00adida Qaumi Move\u00adment-Pakistan (MQM-P) also called out the PTI for \u201cdeviating from a political route and resorting to the politics of the streets to cause instability in the country\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe PTI has continued its politics of hurling allegations, and instead of choosing the right forum to address those allegations, it used it to create political instability in the country,\u201d MQM-P Chairman Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui said during a press conference in Karachi.<\/p>\n
\u201cDuring this time, when all parliamentarians on both sides of the spectrum should have stood with the armed forces, the leadership of the armed forces, and the political leadership of the country, a campaign was instead initiated over the last two days, giving way to fears that there might be some foreign elements involved in all of this,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Siddiqui went on to say that all political parties could have different viewpoints and even different dreams for Pakistan\u2019s future, \u201cbut whenever the country found itself in crisis, all political parties are seen to be standing together.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEven when PTI needed us, all political parties, including us, stood with them. Did we ever say we would not speak to political forces despite being part of the political force ourselves?\u201d he questioned.<\/p>\n
He continued: \u201cSo, I would also expect from the government that the anti-Pakistan rhetoric, and the campaign which is being led from outside Pakistan, should be carefully observed. Is this creating grounds for another conspiracy against Pakistan?\u201d<\/p>\n
He said that MQM-P, for the sake of Pakistan\u2019s dignity, honour, respect, and prosperity, invites all political parties to come and sit together and talk about it.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is indeed the responsibility of all parties that if anyone is working against the interest of Pakistan, we should not only identify it, but also take action against it.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday, there is democracy in Pakistan, so democratic forces should together tackle those who, under the guise of democracy, are harming Pakistan owing to their ego or at someone\u2019s direction. There is a need for a joint, united struggle against all such attempts.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018Propaganda against armed forces in line with hostile agencies\u2019 agenda\u2019: \u2014 Bugti<\/p>\n
Balochistan Chief Minister and PPP leader Sarfaraz Bugti also assailed Imran for \u201cspreading propaganda against the army and maligning them in line with the agenda of hostile agencies.\u201d<\/p>\n
Speaking during a press conference in Islamabad, he said that today, the nation needed to stand with its security forces more than ever before, as two provinces were facing a serious insurgency.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn this situation, the nation has to choose, and the nation has chosen to stand with its forces. I can tell you about Balochistan, that the people of Balochistan have been with their forces, they are with the forces, and will be with the forces,\u201d he asserted, adding that there was an urgent need to \u201cabandon the narrative which was weakening the state.\u201d<\/p>\n
Referring to Imran, he said, \u201cThe popular leader you talk about, his kids are in London and on the other hand, every single day, people\u2019s sons in the Pakistan Army \u2014 the captains, the majors, and the colonels are sacrificing their lives for the sake of the country\u2019s security and for our future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Lawmakers from across the political spectrum closed ranks behind Pakistan\u2019s armed forces on Sunday, criticising the PTI for what they described as an orchestrated attempt to malign state institutions and an alleged conspiracy against Pakistan. A day earlier, the PTI had lashed out at a press briefing by the military\u2019s media wing, calling it \u201cinappropriate […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13953,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13952","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13952","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13952"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13952\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13954,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13952\/revisions\/13954"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13953"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13952"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13952"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13952"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}