ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has publicly and categorically disowned individuals and social media accounts involved in trolling and abusive campaigns against the security forces, following the recent terrorist attacks in Balochistan.
Talking to The News, PTI Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram said the party had no confusion on the issue and had clearly disowned all those who use social media to target the martyrs of security forces, especially in the context of terrorism-related incidents. He said PTI’s stance against terrorism was firm and unambiguous, and that attacks on security institutions were unacceptable under any circumstances.
Sheikh Waqas Akram said the matter had also been discussed at the level of the party’s political committee, where it was conveyed that anyone attempting to link PTI with narratives undermining the fight against terrorism or attacking the martyrs and the security forces should be clearly and publicly disowned. He maintained that the party’s position on terrorism and national security was settled and left no room for ambiguity.
Shaikh said that it is Imran Khan’s policy that army belongs to him and is critically important for Pakistan and its very existence.
However, party sources told The News that despite this official position, the PTI leadership feels increasingly threatened by its own social media trolls. According to the sources, senior leaders fear that taking a more forceful or explicit action against PTI-linked social media accounts involved in anti-army trolling could trigger coordinated backlash and personal attacks against the leadership itself.
Sources said the leadership is concerned that influential digital voices aligned with the party could turn hostile if directly confronted, leading to harassment campaigns and internal political pressure.
At the same time, sources stressed that PTI’s position on terrorism remains clear and aligned with the broader national consensus. The leadership believes there can be no two opinions on terrorism and that political parties, the government and state institutions share a common stance on confronting militancy.
According to sources, the sacrifices of soldiers, officers and law enforcement personnel are recognised within the party as vital to the nation’s survival, and any attempt to ridicule or undermine those sacrifices is viewed as unacceptable and damaging. However, the party’s social media is run from abroad and is not in control of the party’s chairman, its secretary information or even the political committee.
