The PTI spreads its narratives through think tanks, most of which are based out of Pakistan, said PPP leader Nadeem Afzal Chan on Sunday.

“A few so-called Pakistani journalists sitting in foreign countries are also part of the team. These journalists were taking perks from the former PTI government,” he said at Shaukat Piracha’s show Rubaroo on Aaj News. “Their source of information was a nexus which included people from the judiciary, media, political and also from the ISPR.”

He claimed that spreading such narratives has been a long-standing strategy of the PTI as they try to grab power.

He claimed that journalist Shaheen Sehbai turned against former president Asif Ali Zardari because Zardari refused to appoint him as ambassador. Chan did not mention the name of the country, in which Sehbai allegedly wanted to be appointed as an ambassador.

He added that the PTI is going after the army chief as “they are used to holding dialogue with Gate No 4 which has refused to respond to the PTI’s calls”.

The discussion in the show revolved around Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s claim that former prime minister Imran Khan was behind sending assassination threats to army chief General Asim Munir through ‘proxies’.

Taking to Twitter, PM Shehbaz Sharif said that PTI chief Imran Khan continues to engage in a “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,” the prime minister wrote.

State Minister for Petroleum Musadik Malik said that the investigation is under way against those who are running a malicious campaign against state institutions’ heads.

“These campaigns have been going on for a long time and are still running. We have seen how our martyrs were disrespected by spreading malicious campaigns against them,” he added.

Legal expert Abid Zuberi said that the Article 19A of the Constitution guarantees freedom of the press while restricting expression against the glory of Islam or the integrity, security or defence of Pakistan.

“But social media is difficult to control. A campaign being run against any statesman or government official should be stopped by the government,” he added.

However, he called for proper investigations into the matter before the government goes public with its statements.

“The government should take every legal action against those who are committing a crime, however, it should be done after an independent investigation,” Zuberi said.