Pakistani social media channels target Imran Khan and his government

NEW DELHI: The last few months have witnessed across the board attacks on Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and his government by the country's media, especially the vloggers, as if heralding his downfall in the next few months, if not weeks.

An array of journalists who have traditionally been known to cover political news spiced with gossip and 'talk of the town' rhetoric have taken to the social media attacking Khan and his government any which way they can. From corruption in the administration, to the sharp drop in the value of the rupee, to the string of protests across the country on a range of issues, to the political squabbling between the various parties - have all been reported with adequate facts and somewhat reliable inputs.

The Prime Minister's China visit came in for severe criticism with media vloggers like Aniq Naji and others of the like terming the visit a "total flop". They questioned the timing of the visit, especially when the government was under attack and the Army was facing one of the worst tragedies with significant casualties at the hands of Baloch rebels. These vloggers were also critical of Imran Khan for shamelessly defending his stand on most issues and criticizing the opposition. Some reports indicated that besides the attacks faced by Pakistani security forces in Balochistan there was a growing threat to soft targets and security forces in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab and elsewhere, while the government remained unfettered by these indicators.

Over the last one month or so, most of these political vloggers have gone on a rampage against Khan in a carefully calibrated and synchronized manner, stating that his government was facing an imminent collapse due to the heightened activities of Asif Zardari, Bilawal Bhutto, Shehbaz Sharif and Maulana Fazlur Rehman who have been wooing government allies including MQM, PML (Q), PSP and GDA.

One of the news beat channels run by Imran Shafqat, who was detained by Pakistani authorities in August 2021 for reporting against the government, quoted a member of PML-N in the CEC as stating that the Pakistani establishment has been conveyed that Imran Khan has become a security risk because of mismanagement of the economy and that he needed to be removed.

Another popular YouTube news anchor Zafar Naqvi, who has also traditionally held an anti-Imran stand, created waves when he mentioned, quoting Hamid Mir and "another source" from the establishment, that Zardari can be the new Prime Minister. He went on to mention that there has been an agreement between the establishment, Nawaz Sharif and Maulana Fazlur Rahman on this name. Zafar also criticised Khan for resorting to false accusations against his political rivals after being cornered.

The China visit was perceived by Khan as an opportunity for ensuring a major diversion for the media and the people of Pakistan from the traditional political and economic issues on which he has been facing flak. However, Khan's China visit came in for a heavy assault by most vloggers who criticized the visit in strong terms. Saleem Safi, a journalist, columnist and defence analyst, termed Khan's visit to Beijing as "totally unsuccessful" and said that the government tried utmost to transform the travel to Beijing for the winter Olympics into an official visit.However, this was not to be as was evident from the manner of reception the delegation received.

Most of the other vloggers reported that despite Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi's tall claims of in depth talks with the Chinese leadership, including President Xi Jinping, the Pakistan visit was unsuccessful with Khan returning empty handed without getting any financial support as was expected. There was unanimity among the vloggers on the Chinese showing no interest on their position on Kashmir. They also ridiculed the mention about Pakistani sacrifices inthe war on terror and Pakistan's endorsement of one Chinapolicy during the meeting with the Chinese.

The overall prediction by the vloggers is that a no-confidence move would be made by the end of this month or early next month. With both PDM/PML-N and PPP agreeing to oust Imran, opposition's efforts are now focused on PML (Q) and MQM in particular, besides the other allies of the government in general. Both PML (Q) and MQM are building up their pitch in a manner that they would end up demanding amajor chunk in the post Imran set up. Going by assessment by most vloggers, it is believed that with the help of PTI JKT group and other dissidents, who total around 30-35, and BAP members, a no confidence move is expected to sail through.

Overall, the anti-Imran rhetoric has been strong and as most vloggers and media leads have claimed, such narratives are not created without any firm basis and support from the "right quarters". There is no doubt thus that the Prime Minister today faces the heat and could strive to take rare and short sightedsteps that could damage his reputation and career. If the vloggers have to be believed, the end of the Imran Khan government is near. IANS

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