By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday slammed a social media campaign that claimed an attempt was made to kill the country’s army chief, General Asim Munir, and vowed to “crush all conspiracies” against the nation and its institutions.
Sharif said the campaign against General Munir, who took over as the head of the powerful military in November, was orchestrated by an “evil mind” and was part of a wider plot to destabilise the country.
The Prime Minister also accused opposition leader Imran Khan, who has been leading protests against his government since last year, of using proxies to threaten the army chief and trying to coerce his way back into power.
“This is only a conspiracy; stopping it is a legal responsibility,” Sharif said in a statement issued by his office.
“A clear message to the planners, facilitators, and handlers of May 9: All conspiracies against Pakistan and its institutions will be crushed.”
He said the nation stood by its armed forces and their leader and would thwart any attempt to undermine their prestige and honour.
“Desperate elements will not be allowed to create a new crisis in the country,” the PM said. “The nation stood by its armed forces and its leader.”
The premier did not name anyone in the statement but lambasted the PTI chief on Twitter for the “vile, sinister, and malicious campaign” against the COAS.
“His trick of using the proxies to threaten the army chief of an assassination attempt has been badly exposed” he said.
“After his methodically planned attack on state symbols failed, he is clearly desperate and wants to coerce his way back into power, little knowing that the time of his politics of intimidation, violence and hatred is over.”
“Through such highly condemnable antics, he is only exposing himself, the core of which is defined by putting his personal interest (power grab) over everything else.”
Sharif’s statement came amid heightened tensions between his ruling coalition and Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), which has been demanding fresh elections.
The PTI accused Prime Minister Sharif of trying to “use the military leadership and the armed forces as fuel for a controversial narrative” that could have disastrous consequences.
The party cited a Supreme Court order that declared the arrest of its leader Imran Khan illegal. Khan was detained on May 9 from the court premises, sparking protests and clashes across the country.
“The characters who planned to set fire to the country on May 9, crush the PTI and the people standing behind it have been completely exposed,” the PTI said in a statement.
It demanded that PM Sharif tell the nation who ordered Khan’s arrest and whether an independent investigation was conducted into the events of that day.
“States rise not by false narratives and blind use of force against citizens but by the cultivation of truth and supremacy of law,” the PTI said, alleging that Sharif had taken refuge in the prime minister’s office after “looting Rs24 billion from the state”.
“If there was any life left in the parliament, this frivolous person would have been held accountable and impeached,” it added.
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