Since sinisterly played political leaks seem to have lost their appeal, the forces that be have found yet another deck of cards to put former prime minister Imran Khan in an embarrassing spot. In what can only be described as a vile attempt on the shoulders of a deeply-entrenched surveillance system like Pegasus, an extremely private conversation between Mr Khan and alleged PTI leader, Ayla Malik, has hit the airwaves. Full of scandalous material, the audio clippings were quickly brushed aside as “fake” while the opposition members asked the government to “think beyond” character assassination. But simply raising the fabricated flag is akin to missing the wood for the trees. Despite a constant dripping of sensational material every now and then, mainstream political parties have done little other than use the content to their own advantage. Why is it that the interior minister feels compelled to defend the conversations that manage to take a plunge outside the citadels of his key leadership? Laying the entire blame at the incumbent leadership’s doorstep would, however, discount what Mr Khan was capable of during his days in power. It is clear that this leaks bonanza is almost always an inside job. Similarly, hacking into smartphones is no simple job and requires advanced resources that might only be available at government agencies. Therefore, the victims would greatly benefit from rolling the discussion around the forbidden tree. Shouldn’t the focus be on the constitutional provisions that have allowed some entities to evade the fundamental freedoms regarding the protection of privacy? The Supreme Court had ruled phone tapping as a violation of the individual’s dignity as back as 1997. Because every party has stood at the other end of the barrel as the untrammelled practice washed the dirty linen in front of the entire country, it is high time we raze down the merciless panopticon once and for all. A report commissioned by Benazir Bhutto as prime minister to look into the role of intelligence agencies might be a good standing point if it manages to come off the dusty shelf and land in the executive’s office. *