Tag: PTI

Posts by Richard Grenell, former acting director of national intelligence in the United States and a close associate of President-elect Donald Trump, have been circulating on social media in Pakistan. However, some Pakistanis now suspect that his account is fake and managed by a supporter of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

Dr. Shama Junejo, a political analyst, went down the rabbit hole to examine the account’s history. She claims that the timing of the posts and the type of English used suggest that the account is not run by Grenell, but rather by a pro-PTI Pakistani.

She points out that there were no tweets during Trump’s election campaign or after his win. The first tweet was made on November 9.
 

Grenell posted on X (formerly Twitter), “Free Imran Khan!” on November 26, when PTI protesters and law enforcement agencies clashed in Islamabad.

He garnered further attention on December 15 when he was appointed Envoy for Special Missions under the Trump administration. PTI’s official account shared the announcement. Some people in Pakistan, however, pointed to his sexuality as a means of undermining his credibility or making his stance appear irrelevant. This included coverage by national news channels, such as Geo News, which reported the update with the headline, “Trump appoints homosexual Richard Grenell as special envoy.”

Grenell, undeterred, posted again, saying, “I’ll say it again. Free Imran Khan.”

His tweets since then have descended, at times, into plain old trolling, behaviour that is seemingly unbecoming of a senior diplomat. 

Social media is also confused by his sudden interest in Pakistan and tendency to act like he is pro-PTI. Many have raised eyebrows on how his interest in Pakistan is not being categorised as ‘foreign interference’ by PTI.

Grenell’s Appointment

Grenell previously served as ambassador to Germany during Trump’s first administration, special presidential envoy for Serbia and Kosovo peace negotiations, and acting director of national intelligence.

National Public Radio (NPR) reported Grenell for having a reputation of “sometimes employing a contentious approach to diplomacy that rankled allies and the foreign policy establishment in Washington.”

PTI supporters rejoiced over his recent appointment on social media, congratulating him on his new title.

Social media did not hold back after Grenell’s recent post with one user commenting: “Respected Sir Heartiest Congratulations on your new assignment . May you get succeed and achieve your goals & aims Ameen. Imran Khan is our Leader and he is in Adyalla Jail for the last 18 months in fake frivolous cases like @realDonaldTrump. Thank you so much for raising voice for IK.”

PTI leader Azhar Mashwani, who is in self-imposed exile, commented: “@geonews_urdu is Pakistan’s largest traditional news network, fully allied to the brutal regime in the country. Interestingly, many of these traditional media outlets in the country were recipients of substantial USAID media-buying funds between 2008 and 2014 under the Kerry-Lugar-Berman Act. Even more interesting is that the KLB Act was the brainchild of then-Senator Joe Biden, who became Vice President shortly before the bill was passed. For those that think Biden (and his admin) were agnostic on Pakistan, there is ample evidence of his clear political preferences in the country. Past 3 years is a testament to it.”

Another PTI leader Zulfi Bukhari reposted with a caption: “250 million people chant the same. Free Imran Khan!”

Former President Arif Alvi wrote: “A very positive statement. The same feelings are resonating throughout the world. #Free_Imran_Khan. @ImranKhanPTI has spent more than 500 days in jail on false, fabricated & fictitious charges starting with the ignominious regime change, destruction of civil liberties, mandate reversal, fascist torture & subversion of constitution & judiciary by the deep state in Pakistan.”

US President-elect Donald Trump’s recent nominee for Presidential Envoy for Special Missions, Richard Grenell, has been consistently engaging with PTI supporters’ accounts while echoing their calls for the release of Imran Khan.

On December 16, Richard Grenell posted a screenshot of a Geo News Urdu article with a headline translated in English as “Homosexual Richard Grenell appointed as Trump’s envoy” with a caption: “I’ll say it again, @geonews_urdu: Free Imran Khan.”

Since then, the post went viral, garnering more than 10 million views, with PTI supporters and leaders appreciating the US official for raising his voice in support of the former Prime Minister. Grenell retweeted his own post on December 19 with a caption: “10 million. This is clearly popular. Free Imran Khan.”

Grenell had previously voiced his support for Imran Khan on his official X page, and when he got nominated by Donald Trump, PTI supporters rejoiced on social media, congratulating him on his new title.

A prominent PTI supporter account complained to Grenell by posting a screenshot of an old tweet of the Federal Minister for Planning Development & Special Initiatives of Pakistan Ahsan Iqbal, in 2020, critically comparing Donald Trump with Imran Khan. 

Interestingly, Ahsan Iqbal’s tweet from 2020 was retweeted by the official account of the US Embassy Islamabad, for which it later issued a clarifying tweet: “Dear Followers: The U.S. Embassy Islamabad Twitter account was accessed last night without authorisation. The U.S. Embassy does not endorse the posting or retweeting of political messages. We apologise for any confusion that may have resulted from the unauthorised post.”

Richard Grenell after hearing the complaints of PTI supporters took an interest in the 2020 US Embassy retweet controversy, posting on X: “This is when they criticised the sitting U.S. President. Did they ever come clean to explain how they were hacked? I don’t believe it.”

Trump’s new nominee has been unusually engaging with PTI-affiliated accounts on X (formerly Twitter) for the last week even retweeting memes targeting the Prime Minister of Pakistan Shehbaz Sharif.

Grenell also reposted a tweet criticising the Pakistan Army, showed a picture of an advertising van showcasing Pakistani Military Chiefs with a caption: “Never won a war! Never lost an Election.”

Meanwhile, a congresswoman and the senator-elect from Michigan Elissa Slotkin also took to X to write, “Michigan has a large Pakistani-American community, and I continue to hear concerns about the recent deadly protests in Pakistan. Pakistani authorities must protect citizens’ rights to free speech and peaceful assembly, hold violators accountable, and uphold Pakistan’s democracy.”

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has terminated the basic party membership of former Junoon guitarist Salman Ahmed on Thursday, after the musician posted multiple tweets over the past few weeks against Imran Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi. 

In a tweet posted from PTI’s official X (formerly Twitter) account, the party wrote: 

“After careful consideration, Pakistan Tehreek Insaf has formally terminated “basic membership” of Salman Ahmed @sufisal . 

His recent social media activity and attacks on Chairman Imran Khan’s family has deeply hurt sentiments of many Pakistanis, this behavior is completely unacceptable.” 

Salman was widely considered one of the inside circle, party members closest to Imran Khan. A fervent supporter of Khan’s since many years, the guitarist took to publicly criticising Bushra Bibi after PTI’s November protest turned into a catastrophe. 

In multiple tweets posted since the protest ended, Salman Ahmed called out Bushra Bibi in very public attacks, hinting at corruption within her ranks. He has also obliquely tweeted about First Ladies who were allegedly corrupt, including Winnie Mandela. Salman has also attacked Farah Gogi, charged with corruption on Bushra Bibi’s behalf, and Mashaal Yousafzai, considered to be the former First Lady’s new aide. 

The rest of his Twitter feed is full of anti-military content along with demands to free Imran Khan. 

As of the time of filing this report, Salman Ahmed had not posted a reaction on his account.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan has warned the government of further protests if the demand for an inquiry into the alleged deaths of party workers during last month’s Islamabad demonstrations was not met.

“If shots were fired, then responsibility must be assigned. We demand that justice be served and that we get it through this House. Do not force us to take to streets again,” he said while speaking on the floor of the National Assembly.

Barrister Gohar also called on the government to have the “courage to give answers”, saying that people will remember “the echo of bullets for generations”.

The PTI chief was referring to party’s claimed death toll of 12 during violent clashes between workers and law enforcement during formers’ march on the federal capital in the last week of November. Protests had turned ugly amid heavy resistance from the authorities and a subsequent crackdown on PTI workers three days into the march.

With conflicting reports on number of casualties pouring in, the government had reported six deaths, including four law enforcement personnel; whereas the PTI’s claimed toll ranged from 9 to over a whopping 200. No evidence, however, was brought forward by the opposition party to prove its claims as misinformation flooded the internet. The government also maintained that only non-lethal rounds were used to disperse the protesters.

On Wednesday, Barrister Gohar declared that the demonstrators in Islamabad were peaceful and no one carried any weapons. They did not use “guerilla force”, he said in response to government claims of armed protesters attempting to lay siege on the capital.

“They were Pakistani civilians. They did not have any training,” he asserted.

Barrister Gohar also called out defence minister and Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) stalwart Khawaja Asif. “You have been in this parliament for more years than my age… is it becoming of you as a leader to say that no bullets were fired?”

“This is not the time for revenge but you could have called for a case to be filed… for an investigation. These are your citizens and our citizens. We say it is our government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa but all the people there are not just PTI’s. People from all ethnicities, all religions, and all political parties live there […] but we do not open fire at anyone,” he added.

Gohar said that despite the government declaring PTI leaders and workers as miscreants, the party did not hit back by calling the PML-N “murderer league”.

A social media brawl took place between former cricketer Shahid Afridi and senior Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Qasim Khan Suri, over the former power hitter’s remarks about increasing political polarisation in the country.

On December 7, Afridi appeared on a Geo News podcast with Mubashir Hashmi, where he stated that he wanted to enter politics because he liked one political party [PTI]. “But that changed around 2020 or 2021. I know if I say something here, afterwards people on social media will stoop to low levels of disrespect. People on social media have become so disrespectful and morally depraved even though they are so-called educated, but the reality is these poor people have no manners.”

He went on to say that he believed that some things shouldn’t have happened. “Like Imran bhai’s selection of his leaders could have been better. Imran bhai’s Sehat Card Initiative was one of his best accomplishments. Allah gives you the power to rule over the people, and He takes it away. If PTI lost power in 2022, they should’ve become a strong opposition in the parliament because a match is played within a ground, not outside. They would have been back in power within a year or two because the public was with PTI, and the judiciary and establishment were with them,” remarked Shahid Afridi in the podcast.

The irony was lost when the former deputy speaker of the National Assembly Qasim Suri, apparently did not like the “manners” comment by Shahid Afridi and wrote on X: “The pet’s owner determines the length of a pet’s leash.”

Suri had posted an image by Siasat.pk which had Shahid Afridi’s quote. But the PTI leader, who is in self-imposed exile, did not stop there. 

Siasat. pk had posted another quote by Shahid Afridi where he remarked: “It is a matter of running the country, everyone sits, and we carry the country forward. If you have the intention, then carry the country forward, but if my intention is that I am absolutely perfect and the person in front of me is a thief, a robber, then it doesn’t work.”

Suri reacted to Afridi’s remarks on X by writing, “Show your cards, don’t show your jackasses,” with the hashtag “”#Askariproduct.”

Qasim Khan Suri’s official page on X (formerly Twitter) regularly engages with and tweets Siasat. pk’s posts.

After Suri’s comment, comedian Shafaat Ali also jumped in, writing: “Writing donkeys in such bold letters right above Qasim Suri’s  picture is a bad practice. The graphic has been made in such a way that if you look at Qasim bhai’s picture, you will see donkey written on top. This is inappropriate. Change it.”

Shahid Afridi quoted Shafaat’s tweet to say: “Never wrestle with a pig because you’ll both get dirty and the pig likes it. – George Bernard Shaw”

Fake News Watchdog (FNW) has issued a report on Sunday which exposed fake news, fabricated news, and disinformation spread during and after the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) protest in Islamabad in November. 

The investigative piece report countered the manipulated news that disseminated during former Premier Imran Khan’s party three-day-long protest, which began on Sunday (November 24) and ended on Tuesday (November) 26.

The report highlighted fake tweets from PTI supporters claiming on X (formerly Twitter) that Chief Minister (CM) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Ali Amin Gandapur was removing the barricades on the Motorway while on his way to Islamabad; noting that in the footage, the man in question is not Ali Amin Gandapur but rather Dr Zahoor Swati from Mansehra, a doppelganger of Gandapur.

Many news channels had aired the news that Ali Amin Gandapur and Bushra Bibi were arrested during last month’s protest in federal capital. However, FNW claimed that security forces had not arrested them, as both had managed to escape from the scene.

FNW also declared YouTuber Imran Riaz Khan’s tweet regarding the alleged massacre during the PTI protest “fabricate claims”. The Watchdog clarified that the image he used was created by using AI to depict a non-existant scene from Islamabad with blood flowing on roads.

While debunking claims that Tahir Abbas, who fell from the three storey containers at D Chowk, had passed away, the report said that Abbas was alive, as he can be seen in a video meeting with CM KP Ali Amin Gandapur.

The Watchdog also pointed out the false reports of shootings targeting former Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaiser and Chief Pashtunkwa Milli Awami Party Mehmood Khan Achakzai. 

“News of the PTI founder being transferred from Adiala jail turned out to be fake. Whereas, news of 600 youth resigning from army academies during the protest also proved to be baseless,” the report maintained.

The statements of PTI leader Qasim Suri regarding PTI founder Imran Khan’s health had extremely negative impacts, said the Islamabad-based organisation.

The report also declared the widely circulated claims attributed to Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi regarding the alleged targeting of Kashmiri people as false.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan’s sister, Aleema Khan, has claimed that the government offered to release the incarcerated former prime minister (PM) if the party shifted its Islamabad protest from D-Chowk to Sangjani.

PTI’s “decisive” march on the federal capital had last month ended inconclusively after a massive crackdown by law enforcement at D-Chowk. The grand clearance operation had come as PTI leaders and workers continued with their protests amid deadly clashes with police and Rangers, rejecting the government’s offer to shift the demonstration to Sangjani on the outskirts of the capital city. The abrupt end to the protests had also prompted party supporters to train guns at the leadership for “giving into” pressure and “fleeing” Islamabad.

“They [the government] panicked after seeing so many protesters in Islamabad and sent [PTI chief] Barrister Gohar and [KP govt adviser] Barrister Saif to meet Khan in jail,” Aleema said while speaking to reporters outside an anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Lahore Saturday.

She added that the government offered to “release Khan in 20 days” if the protest was shifted. However, Aleema clarified, that the offer to release her brother was not part of any “negotiations”.

Earlier, the former premier’s sister appeared before the court in the case pertaining to attack on Jinnah House on May 9, 2023, securing an extension in bail till January 18.

During the course of proceedings, Aleema told the court that she, along with other PTI leaders and workers, had been appearing in courts for the past one-and-a-half year in connection with different cases.

“Earlier, the investigation officers (IOs) did not show up and now judges are being transferred. Due to this, our bails are not confirmed,” she complained.

Aleema went on to say that she had been nominated even in cases registered on October 4, which was much after her arrest. “Why was I nominated when I was in jail?” she asked.

“We don’t want bail… we seek a trial on May 9. The prosecution doesn’t have any evidence against us. Even the police don’t know about our role,” she asserted.

“People are rotting in jails. The truth of the matter is that the prosecutor does not have any evidence of our involvement.”

Aleema also expressed sorrow over the “destruction of democracy,” emphasising that democracy rested on three pillars, the judiciary, the legislature and media. “All three have been dismantled,” she said.