PTI’s hymns of hate

Elected as US President in 1912, Woodrow Wilson came into office in 1913 with what many considered a neutral stance on foreign matters. It was Wilson’s goal to keep America completely out of World War I, which began in 1914, and have the country serve as a peacemaker for other nations.

Fighting broke out in Europe in August 1914; Germany, Russia, France and many other countries were involved in the conflict. Despite best efforts by Wilson to avoid war, America was forced to become involved after continued German submarine attacks, and Wilson offered assistance to the Allied forces in 2017.

The biggest challenge faced by Wilson and his administration was to convince American general public about necessity of the war. This resulted in establishment of a propaganda machine called the Creel Committee, which turned the peaceful American public into a warmongering nation within a span of six months.

As retrieved from University of California and University of Michigan documents, the Wilson administration established the Committee on Public Information (1917–1919) under George Creel, commonly known as the CPI or the Creel Committee, as an independent agency of the US government to sway public opinion.

As stated by Thomas Fleming, the CPI trained tens of thousands of volunteer speakers to make patriotic speeches during the four-minute pauses required to change reels in the many movie theatres that were in use. They also gave speeches in labour unions, churches, clubs, fraternal organisations and even logging camps. The group disseminated its message by newsprint, posters, radio, telegraph and films. It enlisted roughly 75,000 ‘Four Minute Men’, volunteers who spoke for the perfect four minutes on the war at social gatherings. They talked about the war’s justifications, the draught, rationing, war bond drives and victory gardens. Although the content of Creel propaganda was based on hate for German nation, the volunteers were told to avoid hymns of hate, keep their message positive, and speak for themselves at all times.

Did PTI create its own Creel Committee and used hymns of hate to expand its political space in Pakistan and target the most cohesive institution of Pakistan — Army and ISI?

The state and Pakistan’s youth helped PTI’s erratic ascent to power, and this plant was fostered in the hope that it would offer an alternative political force that could lead Pakistan towards peace and prosperity. The PTI leadership began to cultivate a cult of followers over time, and Imran Khan’s manifestation as the Qaum’s avatar gave rise to a new prosopopoeia. Khan Sahib was unfailingly correct; his gaffes were referred to as “style” and his diplomatic pranks as a brand-new approach to statesmanship.

Khan’s media mangers and cunning sponsors form London and North America started building their own Creel Committee who would spew hymns of hate 24/7, initially against political leadership and gradually zeroing in onto Army, ISI and its rank and file. Parallel to these hymns of hate was a subtle campaign to turn Khan from a politician into a cult leader.

While this aided Khan in solidifying his support among disaffected youth looking for the ultimate saviour, it gave his close and devoted circle the false impression that he was a crisis manager and Pakistan’s strongman who could convert dirt into gold.

The May 9 events did not come out of nowhere; PTI had been building a narrative that the Pakistan Army was the albatross around Pakistan’s neck and needed to be sorted out in accordance with the cult leader’s intentions. If anyone feels this perception was not built by PTI, we suggest that he or she should go through hundreds of speeches made by PTI and its core team and the filthy hymns of hate launched by PTI against Army and ISI.

What was the objective of these hymns of hate?

It was intended to undermine the Army and ISI and drive a wedge between the top brass and the rank and file. Storytelling, trivia, slurs and dark gossip were started on social media, especially through a coterie of displeased and runaway retired officers of Pakistan Army settled abroad, in an effort to disrupt the army’s chain of command. These so-called insiders have persisted in waging vicious attacks against the top brass of Pakistan Army and ISI, championing their allegiance to the PTI.

The effect of these hymns of hate can be gauged from what Pakistan’s arch enemy India felt. Sushant Sareen, the top Pakistan expert at the RAW-run Observer Research Foundation, recently expressed his preference for Imran Khan as Pakistan’s prime minister. “Imran Khan has divided Pakistan, destroyed its economy, damaged its diplomatic ties with friendly nations, and attacked Pakistan Army, the country’s real Centre of Gravity’, why should I not support him,” he said.

There are similarities between Sareen’s goals and what PTI’s social media managers and oversees Vloggers desired. They projected that Khan was the greatest leader to have been born on this side of the Atlantic in the last 1,000 years. They also propagated that Pakistan Army had to be demolished to erect a new security structure and Khan had all the wisdom to execute this grand design.

The attack on Pakistani Army garrisons and cantonments was a direct result of the hymns of hate that PTI youth brigades had been exposed to over the previous seven months. Khan Sahib believed that the attack on Pakistani Army would damage its reputation, disrupt the chain of command, disenfranchise the rank and file, and cause the Army to implode from within, sparking a backlash against the Army throughout Pakistan.

However, this nefarious design built up by PTI media managers failed and boomeranged on their faces due to restraint displayed by Pakistan Army. Today, the bewildered and confused youth brigade of PTI, abandoned by the top leadership, languishes in jails and lock-ups and awaits the trial by military courts. Khan’s persona as the ultimate messiah, built in past few years, and his hate campaign echo chamber is being demolished. People of Pakistan are gradually realising that PTI’s actual agenda was to attack the Army and ISI and implode Pakistan from within.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 21^st, 2023.

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