LAHORE: The PML-N government spokespersons on Saturday attempted to paint screenshots of alleged messages between PTI spokesperson Raoof Hasan and Aleema Khan — sister of incarcerated party chief Imran Khan — as proof of a division within the former ruling party.

The screenshots apparently taken from the phone of Mr Hasan have a date stamp of June 2023 and refer to a conversation between the jailer and the former prime minister. It may be mentioned that the PTI leader was taken into custody in August 2023.

In light of these leaked messages, federal and Punjab information ministers, Attaullah Tarar and Azma Bukhari, claimed that there were two groups in the PTI — one led by Aleema and another by Bushra Bibi. According to the ministers, both groups are trying their best to take control of the PTI in the absence of Mr Khan.

Tarar, Bukhari cite alleged conversation between Raoof and Aleema as evidence

Citing the “leaked WhatsApp conversation” purportedly between Aleema Khan and Mr Hasan in which the former is complaining that Bushra Bibi is “misleading the party on certain matters”, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said that the PTI was facing internal divisions.

“Aleema Khan had informed Raoof Hassan that Bushra Bibi was spreading false news (about the health of Imran Khan),” he said and alleged that both Aleema and Bushra groups were fighting over the party.

“PTI which always indulges in propaganda against the state institutions is now facing disintegration and chaos within its ranks. Imran Khan did the politics of divisiveness and divided the nation,” he said, adding that the PTI itself had been divided into various factions.

“Various disinformation cells within the party have been active: one run by Raoof Hasan in collaboration with Aleema Khan and the other by Bushra Bibi,” the minister claimed. He claimed that Bushra Bibi was trying to spread a false narrative about Imran Khan to gain public sympathy.

After the arrest of Raoof Hasan over “anti-state propaganda” last month, this is the second time his WhatsApp conversations have been leaked. He was released from prison after getting bail but his cellphone is reportedly in the possession of the law enforcement agencies.

Earlier, Mr Hasan’s conversation with an Indian journalist was leaked and the government members accused him of defaming the state institutions in India through this act.

Meanwhile, Punjab Information Minister Azma Bukhari stated that after the religion and treason cards, PTI was now playing the “victim card”.

“Imran Khan, in his attempts to get out of jail, sometimes seeks forgiveness from the army and sometimes appeals to the British prime minister. He is now trying to gain public sympathy by portraying himself as a victim,” she said. According to the Punjab minister, the differences between Aleema Khan and Bushra Bibi had become a topic of discussion in the WhatsApp groups of the PTI. “A power struggle is ongoing between both women to control the PTI,” she claimed.

Published in Dawn, August 25th, 2024