It is not Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf if there is no internal drama. This time Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi commented on PTI’s leader, Jahangir Khan Tareen regarding his presence in official meetings. Qureshi said that Tareen’s involvement in the meetings gives the opposition something to talk about. Qureshi was critical of the leader’s attendance in government and PTI meetings when he was asked a question during a press conference. He said, “I will ask Tareen to think, whenever you sit in the official meetings Marriyum Aurangzeb gets a chance to hold press conferences.” The foreign minister asserted, “The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz raises questions that whether this is contempt of court. When 62 (1)(f) is imposed on Nawaz Sharif we say he cannot hold any government or party position. If 62 (1)(f) is imposed on us, should it have a separate yardstick? The Tehreek-e-Insaf worker is mentally unable to accept this and you [Tareen] are giving an opportunity to opponents of Tehreek-e-Insaf to exploit this.” Qureshi said that Tareen was disrespectful to the present Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Asif Saeed Khosa. Khosa was at that time heading the bench that disqualified Tareen. The foreign minister also said that Tareen had the right to an appeal which was not accepted by the court. Qureshi further said that Tareen can give advice while staying in the background and not involve in the official meetings. “When you [Tareen] come and preside over meetings, objections are raised. The same officers and ministers come out and talk.” Minister kept on stressing on Tareen’s visible involvement in the parties and requested him to refrain from these exercises because they can lead to fingers being raised on them. Tareen abruptly answered Qureshi and this shows that no one can stop him. Jahangir Tareen responded to Shah Mehmood Qureshi’s remarks regarding his presence in the official meetings. Tareen said, “No one can stop me from serving Pakistan.” “Serving Pakistan is my right. No one including Shah Mehmood Qureshi can take that right away from me.” He further clarified that he attends these meetings as per the wishes of Prime Minister Imran Khan and that he is only answerable to him in political matters and not anyone else. There’s only one man in my life whom I consider my leader & to whom I’m answerable. His name is Imran Khan. I’ve stood by his side through thick and thin and will continue to do so till my last breath, IA. What others may say for their own strange reasons does not concern me . — Jahangir Khan Tareen (@JahangirKTareen) April 1, 2019 Tareen tweeted regarding the entire issue stating that he is there to support his leader who is Imran Khan and he had stood by his side through thick and thin and he would continue to do so. Many members of the cabinet commented on Qureshi’s criticism on Tareen. Federal Minister for Water Resources Faisal Vawda defended Tareen on Twitter. Vawda said that Tareen attended the official meetings on the perseverance of the cabinet members. JKT sits in official meetings on the insistence of cabinet members including myself.He has selflessly done a lot for the party,we respect him as a senior colleague &learn from his expertise.Nobody in the party can DICTATE us,PM is our leader & we take instructions from him only. — Faisal Vawda (@FaisalVawdaPTI) April 1, 2019 Chaudhry Fawad Hussian also supported Tareen via his tweets. He said that Tareen one of the biggest reasons that PTI is in power. “The cabinet should respect the wishes of Prime Minister Imran Khan.” He further said that Tareen is present in the official meetings because Prime Minister wants him to be there and he is still in the hearts of PTI workers. آج تحریک انصاف اگر حکومت میں ہے تو اس میں ایک بڑا کردار جہانگیر ترین کا ہے، کابینہ اجلاس میں انکی شرکت وزیر اعظم کی خواہش پر ہوتی ہے،اکابرین کو وزیر اعظم کی خواہش کا احترام کرنا چاہئے۔ ان کے خلاف عدالتی فیصلہ بدقسمتی تھی وہ انتخابات سے باہر ہوئے ہیں PTI ورکرز کے دلوں سے نہیں https://t.co/sDRzQkQHPh — Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) April 1, 2019 Qureshi and Tareen have had their issues in the past too. Qureshi had taunted Tareen for being out of competition during the elections and on the other hand, he called Tareen his brother and clarified that they don’t have any issues among them. It was rumored that Qureshi had brought up Tareen’s disqualification in a meeting held in March but this rumor was denied by Qureshi.<doc-sep>ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday weighed in on the war of words between Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Jahangir Tareen. Sources quoting the prime minister informed Geo News that he has stopped cabinet members from issuing statements and stressed that internal differences of the party should not make their way onto the media. A day earlier, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi was critical of Jahangir Tareen for attending government and official meetings. Shah told reporters Tareen had been disqualified by the Supreme Court and barred from contesting elections and his attending meetings opened the door for criticism by PTI opponents. Responding to Qureshi, Tareen said he was answerable only to Prime Minister Imran Khan and no one could stop him from serving Pakistan. Several PTI leaders including federal ministers Fawad Chaudhry and Faisal Vawda defended Tareen’s attendance at Federal Cabinet meetings. The prime minister has been quoted as saying that he himself gave Tareen an assignment on the agricultural policy. Prime Minister Khan added that it was up to him to decide who would attend meetings. “Shah Mehmood and Jahangir Tareen are senior leaders and their opinions are considered important,” sources quoted Prime Minister Khan. Prime Minister Khan stressed that the entire party should demonstrate unity in overcoming challenges faced by Pakistan.<doc-sep>
He was further quoted as saying that both the leader hold significance in the party and likely their opinions are also of great importance. As per sources quoting PM Khan, Tareen had been given a task on agricultural policy by the premier himself. The premier has halted ministers from making statements while urging them to keep internal conflicts of the party away from media. ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan addressed the conflict between Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Jahangir Tareen on Tuesday, saying internal differences should be kept away from media, reported Geo.tv. Geo News citing sources reported that the premier has halted ministers from making statements while urging them to keep internal conflicts of the party away from media. As per sources quoting PM Khan, Tareen had been given a task on agricultural policy by the premier himself who added that he will be the one deciding who gets to attend meetings. He was further quoted as saying that both the leader hold significance in the party and likely their opinions are also of great importance. On Monday, the two leaders had engaged in a heated exchange as the foreign minister disapproved of Tareen’s presence in government related meetings as he has been disqualified by the Supreme Court. Responding to Qureshi, Tareen had tweeted: “There's only one man in my life whom I consider my leader & to whom I'm answerable. His name is Imran Khan. I've stood by his side through thick and thin and will continue to do so till my last breath, IA. What others may say for their own strange reasons does not concern me.”