PRIME Minister Shehbaz Sharif has warned the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) against peddling the smear campaign targeting the country and the army chief, saying that his government will not tolerate any such propaganda against the security forces. Chairing a meeting of the Federal Cabinet on Wednesday, he said the perpetrators of the May 9 riots, who had also attacked Parliament House and PTV and besieged the PM House in the past, have resorted to new tactics to malign the country and its defence forces as a malicious campaign was run against Army Chief General Asim Munir from the official website of the PTI.
The Prime Minister did not explain what strategy the Government would adopt to counter the smear campaign against national institutions and their heads. It is, however, a fact that social media is widely misused to malign institutions, create uncertainty in the country, destabilize the Government and shatter confidence of the people, especially the youth, in the future of the country. It is because of the lethality of the propaganda that a new term ‘digital terrorism’ has been coined to describe such malicious propaganda. The PTI leadership is on record reiterating that it was not involved in any campaign against national institutions but at times statements and remarks are made and then retracted when the damage is done. The Prime Minister has rightly emphasized the need for national unity as the country cannot move ahead in a highly polarized environment. Former Speaker and one of the PTI leaders Asad Qaisar has claimed return of the PTI to power in December but the party is unlikely to resolve challenges facing the nation without taking other parties and stakeholders on board in case the wish of the former Speaker materializes in the foreseeable future. On the other hand, the Government seems firm on its decision to proceed ahead with plans to ban the PTI and initiation of treason proceedings against the former President, ex-PM and the then Deputy Speaker. The cabinet did not take up the issue on Wednesday but Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar stressed that the Government will continue with its “principled” decision which will be implemented after due consultations and completing relevant legal pre-requisites, adding both PPP and MQM(P) have been consulted on the sensitive issue and that there was strong support for the idea. In view of the ground realities, it is time all power players encourage national dialogue, which is the only viable solution to the daunting challenges facing the country.
