US Lawmaker Ilhan Omar's Pakistan visit mired in controversy

Washington [US], April 23 : US lawmaker Ilhan Omar's visit to Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) became controversial as it took place amidst allegations by former Prime Minister Imran Khan, who was voted out of power earlier this month, that he had been a victim of an "American conspiracy."
Not known to take much interest in Pakistan or the Kashmir issue previously, United States' Muslim lawmaker Omar paid a highly publicized visit to PoK and promised to 'mainstream' Pakistan's concerns with India which has made a little impact over the years in Washington.
While the US has repeatedly denied the "foreign conspiracy" charge, Imran Khan continues to persist with the allegation, making it his principal political plank against the new government in Islamabad while Pakistan prepares for elections, which are likely to be advanced, later this year.
Analysts say this could embarrass both the new government and the US. The US Embassy in Islamabad distanced itself from Omar's visit as an unnamed American official told Dawn newspaper (April 21, 2022) that it was a 'private' visit arranged when the Khan government was in office by a Pakistani national based in the US, who's a Khan acolyte.
Omar, a Somali-born American, became the first US lawmaker to visit Pakistan since Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif took office. His government has seen an opportunity in the visit to attempt to smoothen strained US-Pak relations. Its finance minister left for Washington on April 20 to resume talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to seek a hefty financial bailout that Pakistan urgently needs.
Consequently, Omar received a red carpet welcome. She met Sharif and his foreign minister Hina Khar but also held a much-hyped meeting with Khan, her original host. Analysts say the government was red-faced as Khan took the credit for the visit. Among the top dignitaries Omar met was Pakistan's President Arif Alvi.
He holds the top constitutional office as a Khan supporter. He went on "sick leave" when it came to swearing in the new government. During the crisis this month, he echoed Khan's 'conspiracy' charge against the US.
Khan's charge that he was blackballed by the US for refusing military bases last year has been denied by the US and refuted by the army brass that, it is widely perceived, facilitated Khan's ascendancy to power in 2018, but turned 'neutral' this year after Khan-led Pakistan into many crises, sought to interfere with the army's working and turned defiant against the present Army Chief, Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa.
Long before he was voted out, Khan was sore with US President Joe Biden for not even making him a phone call and had complained publicly. Analysts say he has been trying to whip up the anti-American sentiment to appeal to the conservative sections of the society and to win the support of the militant groups.
The controversy within Pakistan surrounding Omar's visit was reported by Dawn (April 21, 2022) who later deleted the story from its website a few hours later. It said that Omar's meeting with Khan "hogged the spotlight." Human Rights Minister in Khan's cabinet, Shireen Mazari, tweeted about the meeting: "US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar called on Chairman PTI in Bani Gala. They discussed Islamophobia & related issues. @Ilhan expressed her admiration for @ImranKhanPTI & his position on & work against Islamophobia globally.
"Imran Khan appreciated her courageous and principled position on issues," said Mazari, a journalist-turned-security analyst and politician who also mouthed Khan's 'conspiracy' charge. The newspaper reported that the social media "immediately questioned Khan about the meeting with the American legislator and reminded him of his criticism of US officials meeting opposition figures.
Not only did journalists, ordinary people and users of other social media platforms ask for the justification of the meeting, but government functionaries also jumped into the debate and could not resist criticising Khan over it.
The new government's Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah asked loaded questions to Khan if his meeting with Omar was "a conspiracy or interference". "Which conspiracy is being hatched?" he asked while recalling Khan's stance that his opponents' meetings with the American officials were 'conspiratorial'.
Sanaullah warned of an investigation into the meeting "if Khan did not himself divulge the details" the government "will investigate since the nation should know the truth, lest Imran Niazi, according to his tradition, brings out another letter a few days later". The newspaper said that Omar, a Somali-American lawmaker representing Minnesota in the US House of Representatives, "is not new to controversies".
There have been several explanations about her trip, even though she has in the past never shown any interest in Pakistan. "One of the more plausible ones is that her constituency has a sizeable Muslim population and she has herself worked extensively on Islamophobia and may have wished to connect with the PTI chairman, who had highlighted the issue leading to UN designating March 15 as the international day to combat Islamophobia."