ISLAMABAD: Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb on Monday said the incidents of May 9 only served the “enemy”, but it was the nation that ultimately emerged victorious by thwarting the conspiracy against Pakistan.

Ironically, she pointed out that the “foreign agent” responsible for masterminding the May 9 tragedy had recently tweeted, asking who benefited from it.

“Only the enemies of the country benefitted from the acts of vandalism and arson, but the people of Pakistan are the ultimate winners as the conspiracy against the country’s integrity has been foiled,” she said while addressing a press conference.

The minister was responding to a question posed by the PTI chairman on his Twitter handle, asking who had benefited from the events of May 9.

Marriyum criticises PTI’s credibility; spokesperson says rulers ‘petrified by Imran’s popularity’

Ms Aurangzeb said the PTI chairman claimed his party was the largest in the country, but it only existed on Twitter as it had no credible spokesperson.

In fact, nobody wanted to come forward to defend the persistent lies churned out by its chairman.

Referring to former adviser to the prime minister on interior and accountability Shahzad Akbar’s recent statement about Nawaz Sharif, she remarked that those who had previously made accusations of theft against others at the behest of the PTI chief were now testifying the innocence and integrity of Nawaz Sharif.

She pointed out that a group of individuals based abroad was actively coordinating a malicious campaign against state institutions through various social media platforms.

She said that the ongoing campaign against national institutions was being led by the PTI chairman.

Mr Khan systematically worked to discredit and destabilise the state institutions by misusing social media platforms, she alleged.

The minister also made a comparison between the leadership of PTI and PML-N, saying that the PML-N leadership had endured severe victimisation under the PTI regime without creating any commotion.

Ikram Junaidi adds from Islamabad: Separately, the PTI spokesperson said that the ruling group was petrified by the growing popularity of PTI chairman Imran Khan, which was evident from their successive press conferences against “the most popular leader of the country”.

Reacting to Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb’s press conference on Monday, the PTI spokesperson said that the talk was condemnable.

He stated that the rapidly increasing popularity of Mr Khan had caused the 13-party group to lose their senses.

Published in Dawn, July 11th, 2023