Jewish lobby trying to impose Imran on country again: Ahsan

ISLAMABAD/LAHORE/PESHAWAR: Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal Sunday said the nation had come to know that the Jewish lobby was again trying to impose the PTI founder Imran Khan on the country.

The statement came in the backdrop of an article in Jerusalem Post that claimed though Imran Khan engaged in aggressive rhetoric against Israel during his tenure, he privately expressed a desire to improve diplomatic relations.

“Everybody knows about the mastermind of PTI founder’s project,” Ahsan said while addressing a press conference here. He said the PTI founder was trying to prove his Islamic identity among the people with the purpose to establish relations between Pakistan and Israel.

He pointed out that the Israeli media recently published a third article in support of the PTI founder, saying what appeared in Jerusalem Post was part of an international effort in his favour. “The Israeli media has stated that a change of leadership in Pakistan is required so that Israel can achieve its objectives,” he said.

Ahsan said every effort was being made to weaken the country. “At the behest of PTI founder, the social media of PTI is running a smear campaign against the state and state machinery which started in 2013,” he said. He regretted that once again economic progress of the country was being sabotaged saying all the indicators of economy were highly positive.

Ahsan recalled that in the past too it was the PTI founder who attempted to sabotage the CPEC and also staged a sit-in in Islamabad on the eve of Chinese president’s visit in 2014. “Now once again when Pakistan is hosting the SCO Summit in Islamabad, the PTI founder has started politics of protests, demonstrations and anarchy in the country.”

Ahsan said the PTI founder through politics of hatred created the worst division in the country. He said the PTI leader was also following double standards; on the one hand, he was seeking support of the United States and, on the other hand, he was criticising the US leadership.

The minister said he also wanted to thank the people of Lahore for rejecting the PTI’s public meeting. He said the PTI leadership still had a strong relationship with the Goldsmith family. “It goes without saying that the predictions of Dr. Israr Ahmad and Hakeem Saeed about Imran Khan have proved true,” he said.

Meanwhile, Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari Sunday said Imran Khan was an Israeli-sponsored intrigue. “The Jerusalem Post has unveiled his true face by exposing his efforts for establishing ties with Israel and even sending a delegation for this purpose.

The PMLN government will not recognize Israel as a state under any circumstances,” she added.

She expressed these views during a press conference at Shahdara along with the Punjab Assembly Privileges Committee Chairman Samiullah Khan. She said the so-called revolution of PTI in Lahore had badly flopped and revolutionaries had been seen fleeing even bare-footed. “We know how to curb miscreants and enforce the law. Political activities are allowed only under the law. Those who have broken the law will not be spared.”

She said KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur had known that people from Punjab and Lahore would not come to the Jalsa and that’s why he brought people along him from KP. Gandapur tried to get face-saving by not arriving on time for the Jalsa. The Punjab chief minister had given the PTI a free hand and it was the PTI’s responsibility to bring people to the jalsa.

PPP Vice President and parliamentary leader in the Senate Senator Sherry Rehman Sunday asked the PTI to explain why Israel was their supporter and why it believed that only Imran Khan could change the public opinion and military policy towards Israel. “Imran Khan sends messages to the public from Adiala jail every day and should explain the claims made by the Jerusalem Post,” she said in a statement.

Sherry said after the Times of Israel, the Jerusalem Post also claimed that Imran Khan was a supporter of Israel. She said the Jerusalem Post wrote that Imran Khan wanted normal relations with Israel. The newspaper also wrote that the anti-Israeli statements during the government were only to fool the the people. Imran Khan’s relationship with the Israeli lobby is nothing new.

Sherry said Pakistan’s policy towards Israel was laid by Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah and no one could change Pakistan’s policy until the Palestinians got their rights.

On the other hand, defending Imran Khan, Adviser to the KP Chief Minister on Information and Public Relations Barrister Mohammad Ali Saif Sunday said the recent public gathering of PTI had unnerved the federal government.

In a statement, he said the article published in the Israeli newspaper had appreciated the PTI founder and former prime minister Imran Khan. The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leaders were using the article to malign the PTI founder and distract the common people from the real issues.

Imran Khan has time and again clarified his position on relations with Israel. The PMLN leaders should clarify their position on relations with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “Why are they asking us to clarify our position?” he questioned.