PM denounces Imran Khan's media campaign against army chief

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif Sunday strongly condemned a social media campaign launched by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan against Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir and ordered the authorities to take legal action against those involved in such malicious plots.

In a statement, issued by PM Office Media, the prime minister noted that similar minds were involved in the conspiracy of May 9.

“It is a clear message to 9th May planners, facilitators and handlers that conspiracy against Pakistan and its institutions will be crushed,” the statement added.

PM Shehbaz further termed the mean, evil and violent media campaigns a result of the planning of miscreants, adding the conspirators had again become active against the political and economic stability in the country.

The new media campaign was a part and parcel of that abhorrent campaign, which was launched against Shuhada, he maintained.

The prime minister observed that the media drive against armed forces and its chief did not fall within the domain of freedom of expression, but it was only a conspiracy, and it was a legal responsibility to eradicate such tendency with full strength.

He said the nation would foil such attempts in such a manner as it had frustrated the attempt on May 9 to stir violence and vandalism in the country.

He also expressed the nation's resolve not to allow the disappointed and panicked elements to create new crises in the country.

'Tricks to threaten army chief exposed'

In an elaborate statement on Twitter, PM Shehbaz separately said that the PTI chief's "vile, sinister and malicious" campaign had been badly exposed.

"Imran Khan continues to engage in a vile, sinister and malicious campaign against COAS General Syed Asim Munir. His trick of using proxies to threaten the Army Chief of an assassination attempt has been badly exposed," he wrote on the microblogging site.

PM Shehbaz Sharif said that the former prime minister was desperately working to coerce his way back into power after failure in a methodically planned attack on the state symbols.

He said that the PTI chief fails to realise 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," the PM said.

He reiterated that the people of Pakistan and the political parties strongly stood behind Gen Munir and the armed forces, and will thwart any attempt and conspiracy at undermining Pakistan Army's prestige, honour, and integrity.