- Party leadership discuss use of derogatory language against military.
- Many PTI leaders don’t agree with Imran but have virtually no say.
- Most leaders want to cool down tempers but not heard by ex-PM.
ISLAMABAD: Within the party circles, some senior Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders have conceded that Imran Khan’s persistent use of derogatory language in his X posts against the military command played a key role in triggering Friday’s strong reaction from the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).
According to party sources, the matter came under discussion within the PTI leadership, where it was admitted by some that Imran Khan, in his social media posts, had repeatedly used extremely derogatory and demeaning expressions and terms for the top military leadership.
“When we will do it so consistently and again and again, what would we expect from the other side,” a senior PTI figure told The News on condition of anonymity.
He added that if one starts counting, “maybe a hundred times harsh language was used against the military command from Khan’s X account during the last two years”.
Sources said the dilemma for the PTI leadership is that although many leaders do not agree with the jailed founder chairman on various issues, including his consistent personal attacks on military command, they have virtually no say in decision-making and messaging.
As one insider put it, the party line continues to reflect the tone set from Adiala jail, regardless of internal reservations. Hardly any of the top PTI leaders reposts or likes such social media posts of the founder chairman.
Most of the PTI leaders, like in the past, want to cool down the tempers. But neither are they heard by Khan, nor they have any control over the PTI social media and party founder’s accounts.
On Friday, ISPR Director General Lt-Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry launched a blistering criticism of the PTI founder, calling him a “mentally ill person” and declaring him a “serious national security threat”.
Speaking at a press briefing, the DG ISPR, though, didn’t name Imran Khan, but focused his attack both on the jailed leader and his party.
For the military spokesman, Imran Khan and his party’s rhetoric had become anti-state and harmful for national cohesion.
He categorically termed the PTI founder a “national security threat”, alleging that the party’s narrative was finding resonance among media outlets in countries whose forces “had previously suffered defeat at the hands of the Pakistan Army”.
The exchange marks one of the most direct confrontations yet between the military and PTI leadership, underscoring the deepening disconnect and the internal struggle within the PTI over how to navigate its approach towards the establishment.
Originally published in The News
