Probe Regime Change Allegations, Pak President Tells Chief Justice

Pakistani President Arif Alvi has requested Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial to form a judicial commission to thoroughly probe the allegations of regime change “conspiracy” to avert political and economic crisis in the country and keep the political powder keg from igniting. In a letter to the chief justice, the president said the commission be chaired preferably by the CJ himself. A serious political crisis was looming in the country and major polarization was taking place in politics as well as among the people because of certain events in the recent past, the President wrote. He regretted that random comments were being quoted out of context, misunderstandings were increasing, opportunities were being lost, confusion prevailed and with the economy also in crisis, the situation on the ground was approaching a political powder keg that may ignite any time. The President requested that the judicial commission should conduct an in-depth and thorough investigation into what may or may not have been planning and preparation, starting before or following the overt threat, in the form of a possible conspiracy for regime change in Pakistan. In Pakistani history, Alvi regretted, people had alleged and strongly believed in many obvious but unfortunately unproven conspiracies such as the murder of the first PM of Pakistan Liaquat Ali Khan, the Agartala Conspiracy case, PM Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s public waving of a letter and allegation of a conspiracy against him, President Ziaul Haq’s plane crash, Abbottabad incident, and many other matters that remained inconclusive.