Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif issued a strong condemnation on Sunday against the social media campaign linked to an alleged murder attempt on Imran Khan by the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir.
The premier emphasized that such actions crossed the boundaries of freedom of expression. In his statement, he highlighted that this disturbing campaign bore the fingerprints of those involved in the devious plot leading to the May 9 arson incident.
Sharif urged relevant authorities to launch legal action against those participating in such harmful media campaigns, whether domestically or internationally. “Conspiracy against Pakistan and its institutions will be crushed,” he affirmed, sending a stern message to those orchestrating the plots behind the May 9 incident.
Unveiling the Machinations of Anti-National Elements
The prime minister described the venomous and violent media campaigns as the handiwork of miscreants seeking to destabilize the political and economic stability of the country. He viewed these recent media attacks as a continuation of the repugnant campaign previously launched against Shuhada.
The prime minister clarified that this targeted media assault against the armed forces and its chief could not be defended as an exercise of freedom of expression. Instead, he depicted it as a conspiracy that must be robustly counteracted as a legal duty.
Emphasizing the nation’s resilience, Sharif stated that just as the attempt to incite violence and vandalism on May 9 had been thwarted, so too would this evil plot be effectively neutralized. He assured that the “desperate elements” trying to foment a new crisis in the country would not be permitted to succeed.
Later, in a pointed accusation on Twitter, the prime minister implicated the chief of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in this “vile, sinister & malicious campaign against COAS General Syed Asim Munir”. He revealed the ousted premier’s “trick of using the proxies to threaten the Army Chief of an assassination attempt” as a ruse that has been transparently unmasked.