ISLAMABAD  -  Minister for Information, Broadcasting, Culture and National Heritage Attaullah Tarar Tuesday said the call made by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder for negotiation with the institution was nothing but another conspiracy against the country.

This is another attempt of the PTI founder to drag the state institutions in his “dirty politics”, said the minister in a media talk outside the Parliament. He wondered how the PTI founder quickly changed his own stance on the concept of the neutrality of the institutions. “It is not acceptable for him that the state institutions are neutral and now for his own political benefits, he wants them to be involved in the politics which is regrettable,” he added.

The minister believed that the call for negotiation was made as the PTI founder preempted stern action against himself and his party after a raid on their social media cell which was operating in connivance with the enemies of the state.

He said further investigation into the operation of the social media cell would expose their alleged relations and connection with the state’s enemies who were involved in formulating anti-state policies.

The minister said economic progress of the country under the leadership of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also perturbed the PTI founder who had completely molded his harsh stance and tone.

“The PTI founder takes another U-turn today by suddenly requesting the institution to appoint a representative for talks,” the minister said wondering how quickly he transitioned from his earlier stance of “I won’t let go” to “Please talk to me.”

Calling out him for his hypocrisy, Tarar said the PTI founder had resorted to the requests for talks after he realized that his shallow threats to the institutions would not work in any way.

He made it clear that there would be no compromise on the national security calling the PTI founder a “security risk” for the country due to his alleged involvement in the anti-state activities such as a malicious campaign against the state institutions on social media, attack on the army installations and defiling of the memorials of martyrs on May 9.

According to the minister, the PTI founder had a long list of crimes which included attempts to sabotage a deal of the Government of Pakistan with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to default the country, and a “cipher conspiracy” aimed to harm the country’s diplomatic relations with a friendly country.

He said the PTI founder developed a false narrative on cipher, citing a leaked in which he allegedly talked about playing with cipher for political point scoring.  

Tarar said evidence of the involvement of the PTI’s founder family members in May 9 attacks were on the record as the Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) footages showed that three of his sisters and one of his nephews were present outside the Corps Commander House Lahore.

The minister asserted that some of the PTI leaders such Shafqat Mahmood and Samsam Bukhari convened a meeting to oppose the idea of attacking the military installations and defiling memorials of martyrs, but it was the PTI leadership which was hell bent on vandalizing the sensitive buildings.

He said the PTI founder had confessed his crimes of May 9, but refused to undergo the polygraph test which would further expose his role in masterminding and orchestrating the tragedy.

Tarar said the PTI founder would spare no opportunity to create chaos and anarchy in the country recalling his party’s attack on the Pakistan Television, Parliament and police officers during 2014 sit-in.

The minister regretted that the PTI leader resettled the terrorists in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa which gave a rise to terrorism in the country.

His party has been ruling Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for the last 11 years, he said asking what steps were taken to establish peace and counter terrorism.

He lashed out the PTI founder for misleading the nation especially overseas Pakistan to incite a violence against the state.

In 2018, the PML-N inherited the PTI, a country which was progressing, but ironically they made every attempt to default the country, he said lauding PM Shehbaz Sharif who steered the country out of crises and brought economic stability.

Today, he said the international financial institutions had improved the country’s ratings and all economic indicators were on upward trajectory with an increase in foreign direct investment, exports and foreign exchange reserves.

According to him, the PTI founder was the only “destabilizing factor” as his imprisonment had increased activity in the stock market, boosted foreign direct investment and exports, led to decrease in policy rate and improved the country’s rating at international level.

He said “the PTI is a terrorist party” regretting a change in the political landscape with their arrival in the politics which got tensed due to their aggressive mindset against their political opponents.

They had nothing to do with the people of Pakistan’s peace and progress, and national security, he said calling the party as “Tehreek-e-Taliban PTI”.

He called the PTI founder as a “brat” who sent his opponents behind bar and unleashed his barbarity on them recalling political victimization in his tenure when Maryam Nawaz was arrested before her father Nawaz Sharif and steps were taken to stop provision of medicine to imprisoned Shehbaz Sharif.