MUZAFFARABAD: Former Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) prime minister Sardar Tanveer Ilyas on Monday claimed that a sizeable number of “conscientious” leaders of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) was fed up with the “anti-state” policies of Imran Khan and contemplating carrying on political activities from a new platform of national level.

“Criticism of the army and attacks on military installations is an unforgivable offence and no one in his sane mind can support such an attitude and actions under any circumstances because a strong army guarantees the defence and stability of the land of the pure,” he said during a telephonic conversation with Muzaffarabad-based journalists.

He claimed that a sizeable strength in the PTI was unwilling to go along with its policy of confrontation with the institutions because they believed institutions should not be made victim of opportunistic politics for its detrimental effects on the country.

“Therefore, true ideologues and patriotic elements in the PTI have reached a conclusion that they will not let Mr Khan’s nefarious plan to create a wedge in the ranks of Pakistan army succeed.

These like-minded people will be part of the new national level political party,” he said.

Declining to disclose the names of such PTI leaders for the sake of secrecy, he said the foremost objective of the new party would be to promote national integration and strengthen the institution that symbolised national integration - the army.

“Allah willing this party will not only expose but also counteract Mr Khan’s fake narrative which has misled our young generation and jeopardised national unity and integrity.”

Of late, Mr Ilyas, who was removed by Mr Khan from the position of PTI’s regional president in an unexpected decision on April 24, has been religiously airing his disapproval of PTI chairman’s diatribe against the sitting army chief.

It was not that Mr Ilyas had refused to subscribe to the views of Mr Khan about the present army chief alone. He had also publicly taken a dim view of PTI’s chief criticism of former army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa, even when he was occupying not only the party top regional position but also the office of AJK prime minister.

Mr Ilyas asserted that PTI was his first party and he never wanted to be dubbed as a turncoat or a renegade. However, the way the PTI cadres had ransacked state institutions and national properties and reproached the defenders of the country had shocked him as well as many others in its ranks and file and forced them to go for some other option.

He said the PTI was formed to ensure justice, good governance and a corruption free society and people from all walks of life had given their lives and hard-earned resources to Mr Khan to strengthen it.

“Ironically, Mr Khan has been wrongly marketing himself as an upstanding public figure and does not see beyond himself notwithstanding its repercussions for the party and the country,” he said.

Published in Dawn, May 16th, 2023