Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry on Monday said that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf—led government will share details of the foreign-funded conspiracy hatched to oust Prime Minister Imran Khan when national security allows, including those that will unmask the traitors in Pakistan who are supporting it.

Speaking to the media in Islamabad alongside Federal Minister for Energy Hammad Azhar, the information minister claimed that Imran Khan was fighting against people in Pakistan who were discretely supporting the ‘international establishment’ that was hatching the conspiracy.

During his nearly two-hour address in Islamabad on Sunday, PM Imran waved a piece of paper – without disclosing its content – claiming it contained a threat from ‘international conspirators’ who wanted him ousted from power.

PM Imran says 'foreign funded conspiracy' being hatched to oust his govt

“This conspiracy is not against Imran Khan but the people of Pakistan,” said Fawad while drawing parallels in the current situation confronting the incumbent with the situation faced by Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah faced in the decades leading up to the independence of Pakistan.

“This is another East India Company [like situation] that the Quaid-e-Azam fought against in the 1930s and 1940s,” he said. “He was fighting a war on two fronts: against the colonisers and those [in pre-partition India] who were supporting them secretly from here.”

Presidential reference

On the presidential reference that the top court is currently hearing to interpret Article 63-A of the constitution, the information minister said that the attorney general for Pakistan (AGP) would seek lifetime disqualification for defecting lawmakers.

“If lawmakers are allowed to deviate from party policy, stab their party leader in the back, then lifetime disqualification is the only way to end this practice where lawmakers are bought and sold,” he remarked.

Learn from juniors

In a swipe at the media fraternity, Fawad remarked that those claiming to be senior journalists should learn from their juniors how to verify information while dismissing as frivolous claims that journalists have access to the “threatening letter” sent to Imran Khan.

To a question about the army’s response now that the prime minister had been threatened, he added that the armed forces would take decisions that are in Pakistan’s best interest.

Mir Jafar

Energy Minister Hammad Azhar said that details of the international conspiracy will be shared with the people of Pakistan when it is in the interest of national security, including unmasking the “Mir Jafars” – a reference to the general from Bengal whose treachery allowed the British to conquer and rule India for 200 years.

“The nexus of foreign-funded conspiracy and local facilitators are now out in the open,” he said while repeating that the details of the same would be shared at an appropriate time.

On the presidential reference, Azhar remarked that a political party has a fiduciary duty towards its members and vice versa. “This chain of rights and responsibilities will be broken if lawmakers are allowed to vote against the wishes of the party leader.”

He also claimed that the turnout at the PTI rally in Islamabad had shown that people still support Imran Khan.