Days after dozens of Untied States lawmakers penned a letter to President Joe Biden seeking Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan’s release, over 100 Pakistani parliamentarians have written to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif complaining of external interference by US lawmakers into Pakistan’s internal matters.
“We write to express our concerns over the unwarranted and inaccurate commentary on Pakistan’s domestic politics by 62 Members of the US House of Representatives,” the letter states, describing the US lawmakers’ stance as a “skewed view of realities.”
Signed by 160 Pakistani parliamentarians, including top leaders of major political parties, the letter argues that the US lawmakers’ appeal to President Biden amounts to “external interference” and unfairly amplifies the political narrative of a single party at the expense of Pakistan’s state institutions and other political groups.
The response comes after US lawmakers urged President Biden to use “substantial leverage with Pakistan’s government to secure the release of political prisoners including former prime minister Khan”.
The letter also made an appeal for US embassy officials to visit Khan who is currently behind bars at Adiala jail and has been imprisoned at the said facility fore more than a year now.
This isn’t the first time legislators in Islamabad and Washington have come face to face as previously US lawmakers, in June, had passed “House Resolution 901” by a massive majority — with 368 members in the House of Representatives voting in its favour — which called for urging an impartial probe into the claims of irregularities during the February 8 general elections in the country.
The resolution was swiftly responded to by Pakistani lawmakers who passed a motion condemning the US resolution terming it “contrary to facts” and “interference” in its internal affairs.
Following the recent letter by Washingtons’ legislators — labelled “contrary to inter-state conduct and diplomatic norms” by Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch — US State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller on Wednesday said that Khan’s imprisonment was to be decided by Pakistani courts.
