Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur is intensifying his efforts to resolve the impasse between Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founding chairman Imran Khan and the establishment. However, these attempts have yet to yield any positive outcomes.
Despite engaging in discussions with a key figure regarding PTI’s role during the recent Pak-India conflict, Gandapur, while receiving appreciation for PTI’s solidarity with Pakistan and its defense forces against India, has secured neither assurances of political relief nor a softening of stance towards Imran Khan.
Sources indicate that while Gandapur tried to leverage PTI’s patriotic credentials during the Pak-India conflict as a bridge, the initiative proved ineffective due to persistent attacks against the top military command from Imran Khan, the party’s social media, and its supporters abroad. Insiders point out the obvious irony: while certain PTI figures like Gandapur and overseas intermediaries work behind the scenes to create a political opening for the party, its founder Imran Khan and the social media apparatus maintain an offensive posture.
In a recent post on X (formerly Twitter), Imran Khan launched a direct attack on Field Marshal Asim Munir. Concurrently, PTI supporters in the United States have escalated their international campaign, financing massive digital billboards in New York’s Times Square that criticize Pakistan’s military and current rulers, even as India actively lobbies against Pakistan on the global stage.
These actions are undermining efforts of quiet diplomacy, including those of Gandapur as well as US-based Pakistani doctors and businessmen. Now, even gossip within the PTI has begun to circulate against Pakistani-American businessman Tanweer Ahmed, who previously visited Imran Khan multiple times in Adiala Jail in hopes of bridging the gap between PTI and the establishment for the greater good of Pakistan.
Tanweer, speaking to Geo News’ Murtaza Ali Shah recently, recounted how he candidly informed Imran Khan about the toxic political atmosphere his rhetoric had contributed to. He urged the former premier to help de-escalate polarization for the sake of Pakistan’s unity. “Imran Khan was concerned,” said Tanweer, adding that Imran even seemed unaware of the extent of the division and the false narratives being constructed outside. He stated there was an agreement that reconciliation and national cohesion were critical.
However, in a bitter turn, Tanweer’s outreach has been discredited within Imran Khan’s inner circle. According to sources, the jailed PTI leader has been misinformed that Tanweer spoke against him on television, misrepresenting the businessman’s genuine concerns as an act of betrayal. This perception, it is believed, would not only sour Imran Khan’s view of a key sympathizer but also discourage other mediators, including US-based Pakistani doctors who, along with Tanweer, are making efforts to lower the temperature between Imran Khan and the establishment. With Imran Khan unwilling to cease and the party’s global chapters continuing their vilification campaign against the field marshal, very little room remains for backchannel efforts.
A source familiar with recent developments put it succinctly: “When even sincere efforts are twisted into betrayal, and the party leadership is not interested in restraint, what room is left for dialogue?”
When contacted, Barrister Saif Ali Khan stated that he was unaware of any recent interaction between the KP Chief Minister and the establishment. However, he confirmed that the Chief Minister, along with some other PTI leaders and himself, are actively pursuing dialogue with the establishment to resolve differences and pave the way for an amicable political solution.
