The conspiracy that wasn’t

Ever since Imran Khan faced a defeat in the vote of no-confidence in the National Assembly, the former prime minister and his coteries have been talking about a foreign conspiracy. Now once again the National Security Committee (NSC) has confirmed that there was no such conspiracy to topple the Khan government.

The NSC issued a statement clearly stating that the telegram came from the Pakistan embassy in Washington. It means that there was no letter or memo sent by any foreign government to threaten Imran Khan and his government. Interestingly, in the latest meeting of the NSC, Pakistan’s former ambassador – Asad Majeed – was present to give a first-hand account of the events and talks that did or did not take place.

It was a wise move by the new government to call the ambassador so that he could in person clarify any misgivings or lack of communication. His briefing to the committee covered both the content and context of the telegram. Since the National Security Committee is the highest forum for coordination on security issues, there is no question of lack of integrity in its members. Nobody can cast aspersions on such an apex body which includes in its fold both civilian and military leadership, especially when a democratically elected government is in power. The chiefs of air, army, and naval forces were present in the meeting as was the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee. There were minsters of all relevant ministries and the meeting was chaired by the prime minister himself.

When such a top leadership is in consonance and examines the contents of the communication, there is no question of any partiality or favouritism or vice versa. The meeting has reaffirmed the decision of the last NSC meeting and now this discussion should have ended. But the former prime minister is in no mood to end or suspend the campaign that he launched nearly a month ago.

The PTI chairman and all its leaders and activists are pedaling a highly dangerous narrative that Imran Khan was ousted by a ‘foreign conspiracy’. This they are doing by continuously referring to a cable containing ‘evidence’ of the conspiracy. In a time when Pakistan is beset by so many other economic and security threats, it is a pity that the top leadership has to engage in investigating a conspiracy that wasn’t. If repeatedly the country’s NSC has to hold meetings to review a non-issue, its time and energies are being wasted. The whole narrative of the PTI is now revolving around a supposed ‘intervention’ rather than ‘conspiracy’. It is true that no foreign interference should be acceptable under any circumstances, but first there has to be some evidence of interference.

It seems that both Imran Khan and Shah Mahmood Qureshi are intent on twisting the story to suit their own ends. Even after the latest statement by the NSC, they are sticking to their guns without realizing how much damage they have already done to the country’s diplomacy. Their pack of lies is increasing by the day as they lead their followers to believe that the PTI stance has been strengthened. The PTI leaders are issuing one statement after another and endorsing each other’s false opinions. They have mastered the art of fabricating and twisting ‘conspiracies’.

The relentless onslaught of the PTI on the country’s institutions including the judiciary, the NSC, and parliament is not only damaging these institutions but also tarnishing the credibility of Pakistan’s Foreign Office. For any democratic system to thrive – or at least survive – people’s trust in the country’s institutions plays a crucial role. Not that we cannot criticize institutions, we can. If they violate human rights or betray the constitution, one can decry or even deride them. But for that there has to be some evidence; you cannot target individuals and institutions just on the basis of some conjecture.

It is becoming clear that the PTI is trying to divert people’s attention from its own corruption and incompetence in office. It is a cover-up attempt to hide its own siphoning off and mismanagement, from the Toshakhana scandal to the helicopter splurge. If you look at Imran Khan’s politics of the past 25 years, it has revolved around a couple of reductionist strategies like any other populist leader who does not want his followers to think much.

First, he consistently boasted about his Cricket World Cup win, as if it was his personal victory. Then he concocted a yarn over corruption and in his spinning there were other spin masters who applied condiments to his petri dish. Many of his erstwhile promoters are now either retired or transferred. Once in power, he himself relied on mostly ‘imported’ advisers and assistants. Then he reignited his old love for the Taliban, thus antagonizing the European Union and the US. To top it all, he visited Russia right on the day when President Putin was invading Ukraine. Imran called it ‘interesting times’. His foreign policy was never independent; in fact he had no foreign policy at all, or any policy for that matter to guide any department or ministry.

Most of the time he was just shooting in the dark, and that is what he is doing even after his ouster. In his blatant attempt to subvert the constitution, he refused to follow constitutional provisions and violated all democratic norms. He even infected his own party members to use them for violating their oath of office. People like Asad Qaisar and Qasim Suri and his selected governor and president who held federal offices and who were supposed to act in accordance with the constitutions put their own personal loyalty to the Khan over the constitution, the country and its federation. The speaker and deputy speaker tried to dismiss the no-trust move.

Even after the court’s verdict, they attempted not to hold the voting. Their loyalty lay with their master and not with the country and its constitution. That was the real conspiracy; and now they want people to forget their own conspiracies against the country and focus on an imaginary conspiracy theory. Imran Khan and the PTI are dragging the country to an abyss of civil war that Fawad Chaudhry hinted at.

The entire PTI leadership was clueless about governing a country. They led the country into an age of bewilderment and pushed it to the brink of collapse. They had no real-time understanding of internal or foreign affairs, and possessed only some rudimentary knowledge of as critical a matter as education. Their digital drama was highly exaggerated and in fact was a digital disaster. During Imran Khan’s devastating premiership, Pakistan lost whatever competitive advantage it could have in the world, or even in the region. So, what has changed of late? A lot has – and for the worst as most of the country was sliding towards ungovernability.

Misogyny has metastasized to target women journalists who have been constantly on the receiving end. PTI zealots have mastered the art of misbehaviour and badmouthing. Any remaining decency in Pakistani politics and society has been supplanted by degeneration. Those who should have received some training in politics have been groomed as criminal gangs. The PTI has left a sick economy, but wants its followers to run in circles around its leader – and the chant has moved from corruption to a conspiracy that wasn’t.

The writer holds a PhD from the University of Birmingham, UK. He tweets @NaazirMahmood and can be reached at:

mnazir1964@yahoo.co.uk