Daily Times

Finally, sense prevailed as the National Assembly of Pakistan has adopted a resolution to constitute a parliamentary committee to probe in camera, in to the accusations levelled by PTI-MNA Ayesha Gulalai against her party head Imran Khan, accusing him of sending obscene text messages. But the champions of a ‘New Pakistan’ and believers of justice, the leaders of PTI, have rejected it by saying they don’t accept their die-hard opponents to carry out an investigation against their leader.

Instead, they have levelled counter allegations against the complainant, Ayesha Gulalai, and accused her of being involved in financial corruption and of being ‘sold out’ to their opponent for millions of rupees to defame Khan.

Ayesha Gulalai, who raised the issue of moral turpitude against the PTI head, was initially accused of hobnobbing with the PML-N KP leader Amir Muqam, in lieu of Rs 50 million to run this ‘false campaign’ of sexual harassment allegations against Imran Khan. A number of PTI leaders including its spokesman Fawad Chahudhry have shamelessly targeted and ridiculed Gulalai’s sister Maria Toorpakai Wazir, an international ranking profession Squash player for her sports outfits.

Later, her personal assistant Noor Zaman and her political adviser Mujahid Khattak came forward, accusing Gulalai and her father of receiving millions of rupees kickbacks in the ongoing development projects in KP. Even MNA Shehryar Khan Afridi, in a talk show, claimed to have been privy of her and her father being involved in monitory corruption by taking commissions out of contract funds and bribes for issuing party tickets to local government election candidates. He claimed that he had been telling her ‘to be careful’.

The PTI chief’s act of asking his followers on social to refrain from ridiculing Ayesha Gulalai’s sister, Maria Toorpakai, though good, came quite late. But Mr Khan did not stop his followers on social media from carrying out a character assassination campaign against Ayesha Gulalai

They all came up with these allegations only when she raised concerns over corruption in her own party’s government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. This is not the first time that someone has reported financial misappropriations of the PTI-led KP government. Former accountability head of the Provincial Accountability Bureau Gen. Hamid and many MPAs have time and again accused Pervaiz Khattak and Jehangir Tareen of the same mining contracts and corruption in billion trees campaign etc.

A victim of sexual harassment has a right to come public with the complaint on the time of his/her choosing. It is important to understand that in such cases, rather than questioning the ‘motive’ of the complainant, focus must be on the veracity of the accusations through a transparent and fair probe by a competent authority. If proven wrong, Ayesha must be penalised for making false accusation, otherwise the accused whoever s/he is, must be tried under the law of the land.

It is possible that Imran Khan’s phone could have been misused in sending the texts by some ‘third-rate drug peddler’ surrounding Imran Khan in his Bani Gala residence, as was termed by one of Mr Khan’s now very close aide or was ‘temporarily hacked’ at that point in time. As the mobile phone of Naeemul Haq was ‘hacked’ for some time, when the ‘hacker’ posted a tweet accepting that he had proposed to Ayesha Gulalai and didn’t think there was something wrong with it. The “hacking” of the mobile phone was ironically confirmed by a very seasoned senior Parliamentarian Shafqat Mahmood saying Naeemul Haq didn’t confess sending a marriage proposal through twitter.

The PTI chief’s act of asking his followers on social to refrain from ridiculing Ayesha Gulalai’s sister, Maria Toorpakai, though good, was quite late. But Mr Khan or any of his senior colleagues in PTI, did not stop their followers on social media from carrying out a character assassination campaign inciting violence against Ayesha Gulalai. The campaign entailed as hostile messages on social media as life threats, throwing of acid, burning down her residence, etc. The head of a party that promises a new Pakistan with supremacy of law and justice ought to take stern action against provincial ministers and office bearers who are using derogatory language against Ayesha Gulalai.

PTI should not only agree to a probe by a competent forum, into the allegations levelled by Ayesha Gulalai against Imran Khan but also against the KP Chief Minister. Reportedly, the Accountability Bureau of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has already taken notice of Ayesha Gulalai’s alleged financial corruption. Her corroborators of this alleged corruption, like MNA Sheharyar Khan Afridi, Noor Zaman, Mujahid Khattak, who according to them already knew since long that she was involved in taking kickbacks and remained silent till now, must also be charged as facilitators in corruption as they by their own admission protected her by remaining silent.

The writer is a freelance journalist based in Islamabad and can be contacted at sirmed@gmail.com, or @sirmedmanzoor on twitter

Published in Daily Times, August 6^th 2017.