Daily Times

Now we know why Imran Khan suddenly changed his position on the Toshakhana after coming to power, and why the PTI adopted the ridiculous narrative that divulging any information about it would endanger foreign relations and even national security. Before that, when he was in opposition, he’d gladly take the rulers to the cleaners because they received gifts from other heads of state. But things conveniently changed when the shoe was on the other foot.

If anything, what Imran Khan was up to as far as Toshakhana gifts are concerned was far more sinister. He cleverly had their value understated so he could sell them in the open market at a fat premium while still lying about his credentials to the public, posing as a religious messiah. And now, when his schemes have been uncovered one by one, he’s gone back to his typical denial and threatened the people, investigators and journalists that lifted the veil from his lie with legal action.

The thing is that everybody has welcomed the court action since Imran’s popularity among people he’s gotten used to lying will keep the truth from not only coming out but also being accepted as such. Once the matter goes to court, the truth will indeed be known, and then the people that blindly follow him, regardless of the discrepancies between his words and actions, will begin to thin. That is why it’s a good bet that the threat about court action was an empty one. He just likes to make noise and cash in on the short-term reaction. But that too can only go on so far.

The most important thing to note in all this is how conveniently the man who poses as the longed-for messiah from god is lying through his teeth.

The most important thing to note in all this is how conveniently the man who poses as the longed-for messiah from god is lying through his teeth on almost all matters. The same thing happened when he was allegedly attacked during his long march. Everybody condemned the attack, but people also expected him to follow the legal route so that whatever conspiracy he claimed could be exposed. Yet he refused a formal medico-legal checkup, his government in Punjab bungled the initial investigation, delayed the FIR and let the crime scene be violated so there would be more confusion than fact and he could go on with his unsubstantiated accusations as always.

However, the future is set to be remarkably different from the past, especially as far as the Toshakhana investigation is concerned. There are question marks on how the gifts were sold, who they were sold to, and most importantly how the money got back to the country. There’s growing suspicion that the money reached Banigala not through formal banking channels but on private planes; which is the textbook definition of money laundering.

Those with even slightly long memories would remember the fuss he made about such things. Now it’s turning out that it was just one more gimmick to establish his credentials as some sort of a saint in the eyes of the public, even though behind the scenes he personified the kind of corruption he was always castigating his opponents for. As the noose tightened around him, he even went so far as to equate voting for anybody other than him or his party with infidelity; implying that he has some sort of monopoly over faith and religion in this country as well.

Now, those who have seen such antics time and again by over-eager politicians who lust for the spotlight can see the air rapidly getting out of his balloon. The Toshakhana investigation is going to turn out to be a litmus test in this case.

Write that down somewhere.

The writer is a LUMS graduate and currently serves as PMLN MPA. She is a close aide of Maryam Nawaz and tweets at @hinaparvezbutt