It is therefore no coincidence that the launching of Arsalan Iftikhar coincides with Imran Khan’s decisive Tsunami march on Islamabad. His campaign against rigging in 2013 general elections had been getting momentum and the incumbent government felt increasingly uneasy. This uneasiness could be seen in the form of those incessant commercial ads being run on different TV channels, as a damage control measure.
Moreover, the government has decided to arrange their own rally at D-Chowk of Islamabad on 14th of August. They want to thwart Imran Khan’s long march at any cost. The potent threat of a deadly clash between the followers of both parties is being completely ignored by the government. This shows the extent to which Nawaz government can go to stop the advancement of Imran Khan.
On the other hand, GEO network, whose integrity has been badly hit especially after Imran Khan boycotted it, saw a good opportunity in the form of Arsalan Iftikhar to hit back on Mr. Khan. GEO’s correspondent Abdul Qayyum Siddiqui has been repeatedly spotted with Arsalan Iftikhar.
“THE LATEST SMEAR CAMPAIGN”
Apparently, the latest smear campaign against Imran Khan started when he raised his reservations against the hiring of Arsalan Iftikhar as vice chairman of Balochistan Board of Investment. The qualification of Arsalan Iftikhar for the post was nothing but being son of powerful ex chief justice of Pakistan, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.
Arsalan Iftikhar claimed that it was a job without salary. However, sources working in the Balochistan Board of Investment said that Arsalan could have easily earned millions of dollars in the form of secret commissions.
Bolochistan natural reserves are worth trillions of dollars and any company would have happily given millions of dollars to Arsalan for facilitating them in having a licence to work on those mines, the source said.
Balochistan National Party chief Hasil Bizenjo, under pressure from Imran Khan and Civil Society, had to say that Arsalan’s appointment was illegal. He even went on to say that Arsalan was appointed on the request of former chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry. Arsalan thus was forced to resign from his post.
“PERFECT OPPORTUNITY FOR ANTI IMRAN FORCES”
This whole Arsalan saga provided a perfect plot to anti Imran Khan movements. A perfect opportunity to hit back on Imran Khan by putting forward Arsalan Iftikhar as their pawn. The idea is to bring disrepute to Tehreek-e-Insaf and Imran Khan and to pressurize him to step back from his demand of electoral reforms and thumb verification of voters in four constituencies.
Legally, Arsalan Iftikhar, is not allowed to file a reference against Imran Khan. A civilians can file a reference against the candidature of a person before elections and not after that. This is clearly mentioned in the rules of Election Commission of Pakistan. Arsalan knows that. However, the idea of his handlers is not to disqualify Imran Khan but to discredit him in the eyes of the public.
Now, whether Arsalan gets successful in his vile campaign against Imran Khan, remains to be seen. However, one thing is clear, anti Imran Khan forces seem united more than ever.