Will not sit quietly if phone calls of Imran Khan with his principal secretary Azam Khan leaked, warns PTI
ISLAMABAD, July 04 (SABAH): Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) warned Monday that if former prime minister Imran Khan’s phone calls with his principal secretary Muhammad Azam Khan were leaked, it would not sit quietly.
“Ansar Abbasi sahab, in a blog, has said that an audio of former prime minister Imran Khan’s telephone call on a secure line with his principal secretary Azam Khan will be leaked,” PTI leader and former human rights minister Dr. Shireem M. Mazari told journalists while addressing a press conference alongside PTI leader and former minister for information and broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry.
The former minister’s presser came after alleged audio of Imran Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi emerged in which she can be heard instructing the Focal Person to PTI Chairman on Digital Media Dr. Arsalan Khalid to run trends against their rivals declaring them as traitors.
Shireen Mazari said that if such audio is leaked, it will be a violation of the official secrets act as the conversation between a prime minister and his principal secretary is protected under the law. “…if a journalist leaks this, they are not only violating Article 14, they will also be in violation of the official secrets act. Beware, we will not sit quietly if this happens,” he said.
The PTI senior vice president also alleged that the incumbent government was involved in tapping phones, which she said, is a violation of a Supreme Court order.
In the verdict issued in the late 1990s, the court had said that an individual’s privacy under Article 14 was not just restricted to physical boundaries of home or work but also extended to public places.
Shireen Mazari said: “Claims are being made that the government is tapping phones. The Supreme Court put an end to phone tapping in the Benazir Bhutto case. But despite the Supreme Court’s order, phones are still being tapped.”
Casting aspersion on the motives behind phone tapping, the PTI leader called on the apex court to take a suo-motu notice on the matter as the move violates the top court’s order. Calling on the apex court to take notice of the alleged phone tapping of Imran Khan’s house, Shireen Mazari contended that the actins were part of an attempt to “cover-up” the conspiracy that PTI claims was behind Imran Khan’s government’s ouster. “This is being done by those who brought the current government,” she stated. “Why is this happening?” she questioned as she addressed the “neutrals” and the incumbent prime minister.
Commenting upon the leaked audio of Bushra Bibi and Dr. Arsalan Khalid, Shireen Mazari said that “no substantial” conversation was there and “the actual problem here is of phone tapping”.
“One wonders how much did the US help in tapping the phones,” Shireen Mazari said, as she claimed that the “conspiracy” against the PTI chairman was coming to the fore. Moving on, the PTI leader said that the “handlers” of the alleged conspiracy have become afraid of the party’s massive power shows across the country.
Shireen Mazari said that the government now faces uphill tasks on several fronts, as it is already entangled with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to revive the stalled loan programme.
“The government is in trouble as the IMF is calling for accountability for corruption,” the former human rights minister said, as Pakistan continues to struggle in its bid to renew the programme.
Shireen Mazari said that the “neutrals and the government” could not find evidence of corruption against Imran Khan.
Speaking on the occasion, Fawad Chaudhry lashed out at Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif for claiming the party had approached US official Donald Lu — whom ex-premier Imran Khan accuses of playing a part in his ouster — for forgiveness.
Responding to Khawaja Asif’s claim, Fawad Chaudhry asked Asif whether he had gone deaf when Imran was giving his “policy statement in front of a gathering of tens of thousands of people”, referring to the PTI’s rally at Parade Ground on Saturday.
“Did you have cotton in your ears that you could not understand what Imran was saying?”
He said that the PTI wanted good relations with all countries but would not allow any country to decide “who would rule Pakistan”. “We cannot give this permission. We maintain relations on the basis of equality,” he said.
Fawad Chaudhry also alleged that phones are continuously being tapped and conversations are being leaked across Pakistan. Fawad Chaudhry also urged the government to file a case against Farah Bibi first as he pointed toward allegations of corruption being leveled against her.