How unfortunate it is that the hawks seem to have prevailed on doves in the government side as defence minister Khawaja Asif has stepped up his criticism of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) ever since the talks between the two—government or Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) and PTI—hit a major snag in the last week of last month.
The defence minister has predicted, so to speak, that the PTI’s relevance in the country’s politics will end soon because of its ‘violence-inciting’ politics.
This is simply a canard that the honorable minister is vigorously spreading in order to win some brownie points against the country’s largest political party.
In other words, he doesn’t want the PTI to come back to the negotiating table after the Imran Khan-led party boycotted the fourth round of talks, which were scheduled to take place on Jan 28, over inordinate delay in the formation of judicial commissions.
The defence minister is often joined by federal and Punjab information ministers in his assaults on a seemingly beleaguered PTI as part of a strategy that is clearly aimed at demonizing the PTI and its leadership day in, day out.
The government, in my view, is committing a huge blunder by failing to create an environment that is needed for the resumption of talks between the two rival parties.
Little does it know that its failure in this regard will only add to growing political uncertainty while the overarching objective of achieving political stability in the country will remain elusive.
Sanaullah Tarar (Faisalabad)
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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