Note that the parliamentarians(Pakistani MPs) labeled as interference in Pakistani internal affairs the letter by the US Congressmen
Table of Contents
- Members of the assembly including 160 lawmakers sign a letter to PM Shehbaz Sharif.
- Some respondents complain of amplification of the narrative against state institutions.
- All I can urge the govt is to address such a perspective by opening a channel with the Pakistani caucus.
ISLAMABAD: Subsequently, more than one hundred Pakistani members of parliament have penned an open letter to Shehbaz Sharif that pertains to concerns on a letter sent out to President Biden in which several US Congress members demanded the release of PTI founder Imran Khan.
The letter is in response to 62 Members of the US House of Representatives writing “to urge the International Olympic Committee to investigate charges of gross pollution” about Pakistan, and the letter then says, “We write to convey our concerns about the sensationalized and very negative depictions of Pakistani politics by certain members of the US House of Representatives and, more specifically, showering a gross skewed view of realities over them.”
The letter was on behalf of 160 Pakistani parliamentarians comprising leaders of all major political parties and parties who argue that US lawmakers’ appeal to President Biden amounts to ‘external interference’ and gives a skewed political narrative to a single party sidelining Pakistan’s state institutions and other political forces.
The response has emerged after US legislators besought President Biden to apply ‘substantial pressure on Pakistan’s administration to free the political detainees inclusive of the former prime minister Khan’.
The letter also called on US embassy officials to visit Khan who is now in Adiala jail and has been incarcerated at the facility for over a year now.
It may be recalled that Islamabad and Washington face each other for the first time as earlier US legislators in June, had adopted the “House Resolution 901” by a huge margin of 368 out of the total members of the House of Representatives in favor of asserting an unbiased investigation into the allegations about malpractices during the February 8 general elections in the country.
The resolution was quickly answered by Pakistani legislators who considered a motion to condemn the US resolution refer to it as ‘baseless’ and ‘interference’ in their internal affairs.
In response to the recent letter sent by Washingtons’ legislators — described by Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch as ‘contrary to inter-state conduct and diplomatic norms’– US State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller stated on Wednesday that Khan’s imprisonment was to be determined by Islamabad courts.
‘Influenced by blatant disinformation’
The letter of the Pakistani lawmakers regrets the response to US Congressmen’s letter saying that it is “based on information received from persons influenced by blatant disinformation propagated by adherents of the same political party” The letter proceeds to look at “The flip side of political motives behind the campaign to discredit a credible political process in in Pakistan and erode its democratic institutions”.
Noting that the country grapples with the challenges of the post-truth era which politics of cult-followership and polarization have further complicated, the legislators said: ‘‘Gross misuse of social media as a tool for Digital Terrorism remains a propensity to stir up trouble and threaten the state, and the lead role in this negative campaign, unfortunately, is being played by dissident elements who live in the US and the United Kingdom.’’
Accusing the PTI founder of bringing political violence and criminal intimidation against the state institutions, the letter alleges that the incarcerated ex-PM had been fomenting attacks on Islamabad and Lahore to incite violence.
Pointing out that the US lawmakers’ conduct and their attitudes about the February 8 polls were equally misinformed in one-sided, the communique to PM Shehbaz also accused the Khan-founded party of continuously trying to demonize the electoral process.
“The bringing in and commenting on sub-judice cases by members of Congress is likely to influence the process unfairly in the case of Pakistan,” it said.
Govt urged to engage with Pakistani caucus
Noting that it is unwise to drag other countries into domestic elections to satisfy a segment of the electorate, the parliamentarians — while calling a reference to the cipher case saga — said that similar misuse of diplomacy communicated for political advantage by the same created one of the worst crises in the current history of relations between Pakistan and the United States of America.
Here the letter quoting Khan as saying that Assistant Secretary of State, Donald Lu had blamed the campaign as being based on ‘complete falsehood’ goes on to state: ‘It is ironic that respected members of US Congress tend to ignore the tornado of fabrication of conspiracy that you have blamed for your ouster as PM.’
It would be good practice, therefore, to refrain from commenting on the political situation in the US and instead extend goodwill to engage with the new formation that comes with the coming elections. Similarly, we are right to demand that the same be recognized and valued by American legislators as well, it continued.
Also, they demanded that the government direct the diplomatic mission in Washington to explain the right picture of the situation to the members of the Pakistani caucus in the US Congress as well as the signatories to this letter not to become victims of political proselytization against Islamabad.