FIA to investigate Imran Khan over ‘controversial’ media post

Islamabad: The Federal Investigation Agency's (FIA) Cyber Crime Wing on Thursday decided to take action against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan over ‘a controversial’ social media post on X.

The post on X, formerly known as Twitter, was attributed to the former prime minister and read: “Every Pakistani should study the Hamood ur Rahman Commission Report and get to know who was the true traitor, General Yahya Khan or Sheikh Mujibur Rahman,”.

However, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar clarified to a local media outlet that the post was not approved by Imran Khan, as he does not personally review the content posted to his account.

“Imran Khan has nothing to do with this post because he did not see its content or other things. [The PTI founder] does not approve each and every video or context,”  Gohar stated, defending the post as being taken out of context.

Gohar explained that the reference to the events of 1971 was meant as a political analogy and not an attack on the army. Despite this, the post received widespread criticism, including from Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who claimed it revealed Imran's true character.

In defense, PTI stated on the same platform that the 1971 events were mentioned to remind people of historical lessons, countering the backlash.

The sources in the FIA revealed that the decision to act was prompted by the upload of a “propaganda video”  featuring Mujeeb from the PTI founder's account on May 26.

“The PTI founder is in Adiala Jail, but his account is being used to upload propaganda videos. FIA's cyber wing will speak to four people from PTI on this issue,”  the sources said.

These four individuals include Imran Khan, Barrister Gohar, PTI Information Secretary Raoof Hasan, and Secretary-General Omar Ayub.

The FIA team aims to determine if the post was uploaded by Imran Khan himself or with his consent, and who was responsible for creating the “anti-Pakistan propaganda”  video.

“If this act is done by the account holder, legal action will be taken against him. In case the account holder did not post, then he would have to apply for the closure of his X account,”.