KNOWLEDGEABLE circles were Absolutely clear about the engineered nature of the ‘foreign conspiracy’ controversy woven around the so-called US cipher but leakage of the audio clip containing conversation on the subject between the then Prime Minister Imran Khan and his Principal Secretary Azam Khan on the subject was a drop-scene of the high-pitched drama.
In the clip, which is purported to be the first episode on the issue, the former Premier can be heard telling Azam Khan to ‘play up’ the cipher and turn it into a foreign plot aimed at ousting his government.
He, however, adds that there is no need to name any country.“We only have to play it up.We don’t have to name America.We only have to play with this, that this date (of the no-trust vote) was (decided) before.”
That the entire PTI including its Chairman Imran Khan has not disputed the veracity of the audio clip has added further weight to the widely-held belief that the false narrative of the foreign conspiracy was evolved to discredit the constitutional process of the no-confidence motion and the parties sponsoring the move.
The clip confirms that it was an after-thought to give a new twist to the cipher to run away from the no-confidence motion.
PTI stuck to its position that the cipher was a foreign inspired conspiracy aimed at regime change in Pakistan and that is why it is labeling the new government as ‘imported’ one.
The party did so despite repeated clarifications by the highest forum of National Security Council (NSC) and the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), which categorically stated that the investigation did not confirm allegations of any foreign conspiracy to topple the government in Pakistan.
The PTI leader is now threatening the government to take it to the court under the official secret act for leaking the audio clip but he might not do so as leakage of the diplomatic cipher and not the clip is the violation of the act.
The conversation of the audio clip bears testimony to the fact that foreign policy interests of the country were compromised for the sake of petty political gains and propaganda.
The allegations of Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah also matter much who said at a press conference on Wednesday that the two (the then PM and his Principal Secretary) “changed the minutes of the meeting and replaced them with a fabricated story that feeds the PTI’s narrative”.
