During the news briefing at the US State Department, the rigmarole of the cipher conspiracy against former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan and an alleged role of the United States in toppling the PTI government created an interesting scenario when The Frontier Post Managing Editor Jalil Afridi raised concerns of the millions of Pakistanis about alleged US role in domestic politics of other countries. Matthew Miller, the Spokesperson for the US State Department responded in a humorous tone that whether he should hold a sign saying the US had no role in overthrowing the government of Imran Khan and that those allegations are untrue.
The saga of cipher conspiracy and the alleged role of the United States in the ouster of the PTI government surrounds serious doubts and confusion not only in the Pakistani public but foreign media and political analysts because of contradictory statements and haphazard policies of the Pakistani state institutions who failed to adopt a consolidated stance over the issue. The PTI Chairman and former Prime Minister Imran Khan revealed the cipher conspiracy during a public rally in Islamabad on March 27, 2022, without naming the US government. Later, the National Security Council, the top civil-military joint national forum convened a meeting chaired by then-Prime Minister Imran Khan, that condemned the undiplomatic remarks of senior US Diplomat Donald Lu and expressed concerns over the US interference in the country’s internal affairs. Meanwhile, in light of the NSC decisions, the Foreign Office issued a demarche to the US Charged affairs in Islamabad and expressed Pakistan’s displeasure over the events surrounding the cipher scam. Interestingly, the succeeding PDM government again convened a meeting of the NSC and issued a vague statement that was primarily meant to cover up the issue. Interestingly, the PTI Chairman has accused his political rivals, then Army Chief, and several other individuals of conspiring against him and playing a role in the alleged regime change operation allegedly orchestrated by the US, while a large faction of the society and his opponents charged the PTI Chairman of hatching a false story and spoiling foreign relations with the United States in the furtherance of his political interests.
Thus the disagreement between Matthew and Jalil about the reality of Cipher’s diorama could not be bridged up over the past months. Matthew keeps on saying Donald Lu didn’t use any undiplomatic language regarding removing a democratically elected PM of Pakistan, while, Afridi of The Frontier Post wonders how the top most Pakistani forum misled the entire nation about the cipher scam. Mathew believed that the US does not have a policy of intervening in the domestic affairs of friendly nations and Washington has no favorite politician or political group in Pakistan or any other country in the world. But seasoned Frontier Post news hawk was not ready to forget US’s open involvement in Guatemala, Chile, Argentina, Cuba, and Bolivia, as well as secret attempts for regime change in Iran, and other nations in the Middle East and North African regions.
Historically, The Frontier Post is a mouthpiece of the voiceless people of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the Erstwhile FATA, who had paid a heavy price for unceasing US hostilities in the region which encompasses the Afghan Jihad against the former Soviet Union and so-called War on Terrorism that cast lives of millions of Pashtuns and over eighty thousands of innocent Pakistanis including brave military men, women and children. The menace of terrorism shook the Pakistani nation and billions of dollars in economic loss pushed the South Asian economy to the verge of impending economic default. Therefore, the bereaved Pashtun journalist, who personally experienced the miseries of wars and terrorism is currently not ready to accept the assertion of an American diplomat, who is fundamentally unaware of the methodologies commonly used by the Pentagon and Langley during their secret missions in other nations around the globe. At the helm of heightened US-China rivalry, this epic seems to be more relevant in the case of Pakistan which acts as a fulcrum in projecting Beijing’s influence in adjoining regions.
Realistically, the issue of cipher conspiracy and the lyric of regime change has badly split the Pakistani nation into two factions, while this puzzle was unlikely to resolve in the near future. It would have long-lasting effects on domestic politics and social life in the country. At the same time, it has a lesson for powerful countries not to intervene in the domestic affairs of other nations which could be counterproductive for them or hurt their interests otherwise. Apparently, the debate between Afridi and Miller will pick up the threads time and again until the event down the road reveals facts of the history at any time in the future.
