PTI asserts attempts to discredit Imran Khan will only boost his popularity

Peshawar [Pakistan], December 8 (ANI): Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Sunday stated "further attempts to malign" party founder and former prime minister Imran Khan would only increase his popularity, asserting that every narrative "orchestrated against him" would backfire, Dawn reported.
During a rally at the Peshawar Sports Complex, PTI leaders were joined by their political ally, the Tehreek-i-Tahafuz-i-Ayeen-i-Pakistan (TTAP). Both parties voiced solidarity with Imran Khan and "took exception to the recent remarks made against him", urging that "those responsible be held to account" to prevent similar remarks in the future, according to Dawn.
Addressing the gathering, Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party and TTAP chief Mehmood Khan Achakzai said undemocratic elements were apprehensive of "genuine political movements" like the TTAP and PTI, prompting them to resort to "improper language".
He stated, "Pakistan is our country, and we will make all efforts to save it from disintegration," adding that his party wanted a Pakistan "where no one harms others, where people with different schools of thought could live together peacefully, and this country moves forward with constitutional supremacy and rule of law."
He also warned that imposing a governor's rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa would lead to "negative consequences", Dawn reported.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi told participants that the PTI was not responsible if peace had not returned to the region due to the state's security policies.
He said that after taking the oath, he fulfilled all legal and constitutional obligations, but a "different narrative was being built up" against him, and elements were attempting to show that PTI had adopted "confrontational politics", according to Dawn.
A resolution moved by PTI MNA Sher Ali Arbab and passed during the rally stated, "We, the people of Pakistan, consider Imran Khan a national hero and the elected and genuine prime minister of Pakistan, who was elected by the people on February 8, 2024. We categorically reject that he or his associates are in any way a threat to national security."
The resolution said language used against Imran was "against the principles of civil supremacy of Quaid-i-Azam" and condemned branding "dissenting political opinions" as a "growing threat to national security".
The PTI stance came after Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said in a press conference that Imran Khan's "anti-army" rhetoric had gone beyond politics and become a "national security threat".
The party announced another rally in Kohat on December 14.
Defence Minister Khawaja Asif wrote on X that it was justified to call any individual "delusional" or "mentally ill" if they target the state in pursuit of political interests.
He said, "Behind the response given in the DG ISPR's press conference lies the incessant hate-mongering rhetoric of that person and his followers, for which there is no parallel in Pakistan's history."
Asif stated that "no effort contrary to the country's dignity, sovereignty, and national security" would be allowed, adding, "The criminal sitting in Adiala cannot be permitted under any circumstances to toy with the country's stability."
Earlier in the day, several leaders from different parties--including Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz's Ahsan Iqbal and Hanif Abbasi, Pakistan Peoples Party's Sarfaraz Bugti, and Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan leadership--expressed support for the armed forces.
Iqbal wrote on X that "political differences are part of any democracy--but when politics crosses the line into anti-state narrative building, deliberate misinformation, and attacks on the integrity of Pakistan's Armed Forces and its leadership, it threatens the stability, security, and unity of the country."
MQM-P Chairman Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui said the PTI was continuing "politics of hurling allegations", while Bugti said Imran was "spreading propaganda against the armed forces and maligning them in line with the agenda of hostile agencies", calling it "an intelligence-driven war against Pakistan".
Abbasi echoed the ISPR chief's remarks and called Imran a "mental patient", while criticising members of Imran's family for giving interviews to Afghan media. (ANI)