Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan’s stars are clearly not in his favour as he is getting bad news from every possible side. His trusted adviser and former Pakistan Army General Asim Bajwa—who was entrusted with the responsibility of China’s ambitious project CPEC (China-Pakistan Economic Corridor) last year has been accused of corruption. Interestingly, Bajwa has always been a major force behind “good economic relationship” between Pakistan and China. And he seems to have created enough wealth due to his deep China connections.
CPEC chairman Asim Bajwa is accused of spreading business in four countries through corruption and within a few years, the retired General has created a lot of assets in the name of his family in foreign shores. He has also built a billiondollar business through a pizza chain. These serious allegations were levelled against Bajwa in a report published in an independent website, ‘Fact Focus’. Since publishing of the report, the journalist who wrote the story has been called a RAW agent and a traitor. He has also been receiving threats to his life.
CPEC’s reins are in the hands of the Pakistan Army and it is not so easy to question the military in Pakistan. The government of Pakistan and the powerful Army are trying hard not to get media coverage of corruption charges against Bajwa.
The report states that Bajwa’s wealth has increased as the military grew in stature. China and Pakistan have the same objective, says Michael Kugelman, Senior South Asia Associate at the American think tank Wilson Center. However, these allegations should be kept away from the common people. As long as there is not much discussion about it in the media, the governments of both the countries can call it a conspiracy, and blame India for the same. But if more people get their eye on these, then these allegations can prove harmful for CPEC and cause major problems for China and Pakistan. There have been reports of several scams in CPEC before.
Not surprisingly, Imran Khan’s party has been running a media campaign with #IndianProxiesAttackCPEC on these allegations. It has also received support from several TV channels. On one hand, such campaigns were being run on social media, and on the other, the mainstream media tried to suppress the coverage on the charges against Gen Bajwa.