Islamabad, Pakistan: Due to its negative propaganda and anarchic mentality, the popularity graph of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is rapidly falling, claims several journalists who were asked to comment on token hunger strike PTI leaders.
During a background conversation with several reporters at the National Press Club (NPC) Islamabad, the majority of reporters claimed that PTI failed to gather protesters as the party already lost artificial charisma that was injected through the hard work of 10 years by using all state powers in the past.
They were of the view that protest calls given by PTI were rejected by even its followers thereby PTI leaders came up with the idea of a token hunger strike that is too symbolic which is only for three hours. “Umar Ayub, Asad Qaiser, Barrister Gohar and other leaders should stop fooling people on hunger strike. The interesting thing is that today the protest call given by PTI in Islamabad and other cities did not get any positive response from the public”, commented a senior journalist with the condition of anonymity because every decent person is afraid of abusive trolling of PTI slur brigade.
He was of the view that the current PTI leadership knew that the protest call would fail miserably but filed a petition in the Islamabad High Court to save its honor even though the parties which have to protest did not seek permission from anyone.
When asked about the reason for this failure, he said that PTI’s popularity graph was due to its involvement in the tragic events of May 9 last year and there has been a severe blow to the party due to its negative campaigns on social media against the state and state institutions, especially the top leadership of the Pakistan Army and this feature has exposed that PTI has feelings of hatred against the country.
Meanwhile, a group of journalists was of the view that the reason of the failure of the call was that PTI did not have the right leadership and an acceptable narrative to mobilize. According to this group, Asad Qaiser, Umar Ayub, Barrister Gohar, and others actually do not want the PTI founder to come out of jail because his release will lead to their political death therefore they are not making any serious effort to free Imran Khan from the jail.
Another group that looked quite anti-Imran claimed that people are not responding to any protest call of PTI mainly because it has become clear to them that Imran Khan is a fraud, anti-national, and international force against the Pakistan Army.
Overall discussions with seasoned journalists indicate that people are upset with all the dramas which include the negative campaign against government institutions on social media, letters to the IMF to stop financial aid to Pakistan, and sloganeering against the important figures of the country outside the IMF offices. It should be seen to be on the path of development. There is also the experience of PTI’s government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in front of the people, where despite being in power for more than 9 years, this party has not done a remarkable job for the welfare of the people but threatening to invade the Federation – sometimes shouts slogans of occupying the Governor’s House and sometimes trespassing into the grid stations and starts turning on and off the electricity, which is not his job, the people also know that PTI The fight is not for any right and truth but only for seeking power in politics.
Moreover, PTI’s continuous anti-military narrative is unsettling large sections of the public. Moreover, continuous illegal favors by certain politically cloaked judges and open support of the Western media/international establishment are gradually eroding the so-called moral high ground of the founding PTI. In the context of the current situation, it has become clear that the country’s political environment is not in favor of the PTI and its foreign masters, so the West’s pet groups, including TTP, PTM, and Baloch Solidarity, have come to help it.
