A million-dollar question that Imran Khan dodges

INTERNATIONAL DESK: Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan has dodged a million-dollar question and for obvious reason. This was neither an ordinary question nor was it music to his ears. In the past, when his eyes and ears brought this matter to the attention of Khan, the prime minister, it led to the removal of a top gun.

As Khan went to Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) on Thursday, he found Azaz Syed of Geo TV waiting for him. Referring to a property tycoon, Azaz asked Khan if it was true that the tycoon gifted a diamond set to his wife. This was the second time he shot this question; earlier, Azaz asked this during his last appearance before ATC.

Visibly unprepared, Khan didn’t answer in the beginning. When Azaz pressed further, the former PM said: “Diamonds are a cheap commodity. Talk about something expensive.” He neither denied nor confirmed the veracity of allegations. However, there is a story behind this question which is three-year-old.

In June 2019, a spy chief presented a dossier to Khan, the prime minister. This was about Bushra Bibi and Farah Khan. The intelligence chief shared details which were substantiated with evidence. He said that a tycoon had gifted a diamond set to the first lady. Another information was about the involvement of Farah in different dealings with tycoons and other influential people. Such activities, the spy chief said, would bring bad name to the prime minister who crafted his image as a clean man.

Instead of appreciating this, Khan went ballistic. He considered this interference into his family matters. Not only Bushra Bibi, Khan said that Farah was also like his family and spying on their activities wasn’t acceptable for him. What he did next was unimaginable for the spy chief. Khan called his boss and ordered his immediate removal. Boss of the spy chief didn’t like the idea, nevertheless he obeyed Khan’s order.

Incidentally, a dossier about Usman Buzdar, was also shared on another occasion. Although Khan didn’t react like he did in the case of Bushra, he opted to remain quiet. This is in contrast with Khan’s preaching of zero tolerance towards corruption. On numerous occasions, he blamed the establishment for being soft on the alleged corruption of Sharif family and Asif Zardari. At one point, he said that

the establishment would show him evidence against his political rivals but was at peace with them which meant that corruption was not an issue for the establishment. (The News)