After Shireen Mazari, six more desert Imran Khan’s sinking ship in Pakistan

The Army’s project of dismantling Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Party notched a major success with six more senior functionaries deserting the former Prime Minister’s sinking ship.

PTI’s senior vice-president Dr Shireen Mazari announced her decision to quit the party and politics during a news conference after release from jail on Tuesday.

Her exit has triggered a chain of resignation from the party. The deserters include former Punjab minister Fayazul Hassan Chohan, former Members of the Provincial Assemblies (MPAs)– Jaleel Ahmed Sharaqpuri, Makhdoom Iftikharul Hassan Gillani, Abdul Razak Khan Niazi. Besides, the MPAs from Sindh Bilal Ahmed Ghaffar and Omar Omari have also parted company from the PTI, after condemning violence against the military and other state institutions.

During her press conference Mazari citing the May 9 vandalism said: “I have always condemned every kind of violence, especially against the state institutions and symbols like the General Headquarters, Supreme Court and Parliament. Such violence should be condemned. Violence against such symbols should be condemned and I had done so too.”

In a separate press conference, Chohan claimed that he was the sole individual who had advised Imran to shun the politics of violence, but he was sidelined in the party over this stance, News International reported. He alleged that several PTI leaders, including Fawad Chaudhry, Murad Saeed, Ali Amin Gandapur, Musarrat Cheema and Shahbaz Gill, did the most damage to the party by supporting Imran in his anti-army stance.

“In every zoom meeting in three-four days, Imran would ask party spokespersons to speak against the army and Bajwa. He would also explain, what should the media be told against them. I tried to speak otherwise, but was given a shut-up call,” he observed.

As reported by India Narrative earlier, the Pakistani military has decided to dismantle the PTI ecosystem. The May 9 incident has restored unity in the Pak army at all levels. Earlier, there were speculations of some sort of a mutiny within. In fact, pro-Imran elements including Vloggers abroad were daily predicting the ouster of G n Asim Munir by Chairman Joint Chief of Staff Committee Sahir Shamshad Mirza.   All ranks and file of the army are highly grieved and simultaneously enraged that PTI rioters set ablaze the dummy of the Saber jet outside the Mianwali Airbase and desecrated and destroyed the statue of Captain Carnal Sher Khan at Punjab Regiment Centre Mardan, which they have considered metaphors of valor and gallantry.

The May 9 blunder is being deemed as an unforgivable sin even by the people including mid-ranking officers in Pak army, who had had been previously inclined to sympathize with Imran. They see the Pakistan’s People’s Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) as parties that gave Pakistan the constitution, nuclear programme, motorway and CPEC. But the “historical credit” of mounting direct attacks on the army goes only to the PTI. By committing this act, the PTI has committed treason against the state and it does not deserve any mercy or concession.

The Pak establishment’s plans as yet are to divide PTI into various factions, minus Imran. Jahangir Tareen has been activated to form a strong faction comprising majority of electable Members of the National Assembly (MNAs) and Members of the Provincial Assemblies (MPAs) who can play a major role in any future set up. Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Fawad Chaudhry and Pervez Elahi will also be assigned a major role in Punjab. Pervez Khattak and Asad Qaiser will be major players in the new arrangement in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Faisal Wavda who had left PTI several months ago will play similar role in Sindh together with Ali Zaidi.

Also Read: Dominos begin to fall as former Pak minister Shireen Mazari quits Imran Khan’s PTI