Monitoring Desk: “Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) always uses Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) as its Auxiliary Force and foot soldiers brigade to bully state institutions of Pakistan. The refusal of accepting Operation Azm-e-Istehkam is because the operation will harm the economic interests of PTI as its leadership is directly involved in smuggling to Afghanistan and possibly also indirectly involved in terrorism economy”.
These were observations of political leaders and analysts in a current affairs show broadcasted by state-run television on Sunday. The show titled “SOCHNA HOGA” was anchored by Dr. Sajjad Bokhari while participants included MNA (PPP) Shahida Rehmani, MNA (PMLN) Maj (retd) Tahir Iqbal, and foreign affairs expert from Prague Shazia Anwer Cheema.
Participants were of the view that PTI always criticized everything that could benefit Pakistan; could it be CPEC; SIFC; sending illegal foreigners to their countries of origin or controlling smuggling at the Pak-Afghan border. “PTI has a strong vendetta against Pakistan and rejecting Operation Azm-e-Istehkam (Commitment for stability) by PTI is not unprecedented or even newsworthy because this cult has a long history of defaming and damaging Pakistan and refusal to accept the Operation might be linked with a reality that intelligence based using state of the art tools would latter or sooner expose direct support of PTI to TTP”, commented Shazia Anwer Cheema who believed that PTI by designed resettled TTP terrorists in Pakistan during its government in the center and now has already handed over KPK province to TTP where PTI has a provincial government. Participants also referred Bannu jail break incident that took place during the PTI’s first tenure in KPK when TTP released its 175 dangerous terrorists from the jail.
It is pertinent to mention that the APEX committee looking after security in the country on June 22 decided to launch Operation Azm-e-Istehkam. The meeting was chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and attended by key federal cabinet members, chief ministers from all provinces including Gilgit-Baltistan, provincial chief secretaries, services chiefs, and other senior civilian, military, and law enforcement officials.
In response to the announcement of Operation Azm-e-Istehkam, Pakistan Tehreek Insaf (PTI) and Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) declared their refusal to support any military operation to eliminate terrorism and extremism across the country. PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar demanded an in-camera briefing by military leaders in Parliament before starting any military operation and PTI also walked out from the National Assembly.
Responding to the refusal of PTI to support Operation Azm-e-Istehkam, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif accused PTI of siding with terrorists against the military. He was of the view that the decision for Operation Azm-e-Istehkam was made in an Apex Committee meeting, which included PTI members and the Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK).
TTP and PTI Relationship
PTI has a long history of cordial relations with PTI and TTP did not allow PTI competitors to do election campaigns in KPK before the 2013 General Elections and targeted JUI and ANP election rallies and released an official statement that only PTI would be allowed to contest elections in the province. PTI had been protesting in favor of the Afghan Taliban at a level that people used to call PTI founding Chairman Imran Khan “Taliban Khan”.Intelligence circles claim that TTP foot soldiers had been guarding Imran Khan’s Lahore residence and were involved in attacking raiding parties that came to arrest Imran Khan. One known TTP member was spotted by the media while giving instructions to a mob to attack police outside Imran Khan’s Lahore residence. Intelligence circles also claim that PTI used TTP terrorists to attack military installations on May 9, 2022, particularly in Mianwali and Peshawar.
Similarities between TTP and PTI
There is no doubt there had been many similarities between TTP and PTI as both do not respect and believe in the Constitution of Pakistan and both want to replace the constitution; TTP calls the constitution non-Islamic while PTI believes that the constitution is redundant and must be removed and replaced. Both expressed their hatred for the Pakistan Army and both attacked the Pakistan Army (reference May 9 vandalism of PTI against the military installation of Pakistan). Strangely, courts in Pakistan have a soft corner for both elements because hardly any TTP top leader has ever been convicted by regular courts while the conduct of courts in favor of PTI is no more news in Pakistan. Both have been using their leverage of being popular in KPK and both do not believe in logical dialogue. When TTP was crushed through military force by the Pakistan Army, PTI managed the negotiation with TTP to ensure the resettlement of TTP terrorists in Pakistan. Over 25,000 TTP terrorists were resettled in Pakistan who came from Afghanistan with US-made weapons under the directions of PTI Prime Minister Imran Khan.
Differences between TTP and PTI
The difference between them is that one is a registered political party (PTI) and the second (TTP) is not although PTI had officially invited TTP to form its political wing and open offices in Pakistan as a mainstream party. There is another difference between them as TTP used only guns and bullets against the Pakistan Army while PTI used political and diplomatic weapons to defeat the state of Pakistan. Sending letters to the IMF for not granting loans to Pakistan and writing letters to the UN to tag Pakistan as a ‘state of concern’ over alleged Human Rights abuses. PTI has been in constant contact with Congressmen in the United States and managed to put Pakistan on the list of the United States Commission of International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). PTI hired lobby firms to portray Pakistan as a ‘dangerous state’. Strangely, both the attacked General Headquarters (GHQ) of the Pakistan Army in Rawalpindi as TTP did it in October 2009 and PTI did the same on May 9, 2023.
