It is completely unethical for him to have made public personal SMS/email exchanges with Chairman Khan.
ISLAMABAD: Normally, it isn’t worth responding to marginalised commentators like Kamran Shafi but his “Open letter to Imran Khan” (January 17) is so full of lies and hysteria that it needed a response. Mr Shafi has, it seems out of frustration for his lack of ability to burden Pakistan with a dollar-dependent agenda, lashed out at Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan. Of course, Mr Shafi has every right to his histrionics against the PTI because the likes of him cannot deal with the continuing rising graph of the party.
However, what is completely unethical is for him to have made public personal SMS/email exchanges with Chairman Khan without seeking his consent. All he did was to inform Mr Khan that he was going to make public their private exchange. This rude, unethical behaviour from him against the leader of the second largest national party (poor Mr Shafi must be having seizures when confronting this reality) is unwarranted and unacceptable — especially since it comprises some half-truths and some brazen lies. Because Imran Khan, unlike most political party heads, is extremely accessible, is no reason to abuse the privilege of personal communications with him.
Mr Shafi’s absurd claims of Chairman Khan having minders is an outright lie, as anyone who has known Mr Khan for any length of time knows he is, in fact, the minder of the PTI, ensuring the party does not stray from its ideology and public commitments. Mr Shafi may also choose to close his mind to the fact that, albeit muted, the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) government did immediately respond to the horrific murder of Aitizaz Hasan Shaheed in the form of a statement from Shah Farman committing financial support for the family and declaring Aitizaz Shaheed a hero. The PTI leadership also sent out strong statements, which seem to have totally evaded Mr Shafi but then perhaps, it was the wrong time of the day!
Mr Khan, before leaving for India, had also asked the K-P chief minister to move rapidly on the issue and when he found that had not happened, he publicly berated the K-P government. Can’t imagine any other political party leader doing that to the party’s government in a province. We are not looking for accolades from the likes of Mr Shafi, but he should, at least, get some facts correct as he lashes out against the PTI to please his minders!
While on correcting basic facts, much as it may pain Mr Shafi, I have absolutely no dealings with the government of K-P nor have I been tasked with anything relating to K-P. Hate should not blind one from facts, and one truly hoped The Express Tribune had, at least, asked Mr Shafi for some substantiation to his wild attacks! Or has this paper become a vehicle for all vitriol against the PTI?
We don’t want to start exposing Mr Shafi’s murky deeds of the past, but he also knows what lies buried in the audit reports of the MFA. We hope this response will also be given due space in your paper — if for no other reason, then basic fair play.
Shireen Mazari
Central Information Secretary, PTI
Published in The Express Tribune, January 18th, 2014.
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