Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday strongly condemned what he said was a social media campaign regarding an assassination attempt on Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir, and expressed the resolve to “crush all conspiracies” against Pakistan and state institutions.

According to a statement released by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), the premier said similar thinking was done for the events of May 9 — when military installations were attacked during violent protests in the country following the arrest of PTI chief Imran Khan.

“A clear message to the planners, facilitators and handlers of May 9: All conspiracies against Pakistan and its institutions will be crushed,” PM Shehbaz said.

He said that “vile” media campaign against the COAS and army was the result of planning by an “evil mind”. He said that “conspiratorial minds and elements” were once again working against political and economic stability in the country.

The prime minister said that the new campaign was one aspect of the abhorrent drive against the country’s martyrs.

The premier instructed the relevant agencies to take action against those responsible both at home and abroad.

Asserting that the media campaign against the COAS and the army did not fall under freedom of speech, he said, “This is only a conspiracy; stopping it is a legal responsibility.”

He said that the nation would thwart this conspiracy in the same way it had foiled the plot to spread violence in the country on May 9.

“Desperate elements will not be allowed to create a new crisis in the country,” he said, adding that the nation stood by its armed forces and its leader.

While the premier did not name anyone in the statement issued by the PMO, he lambasted the PTI chief on Twitter for the “vile, sinister and malicious campaign” against the COAS.

“His trick of using the proxies to threaten the army chief of an assassination attempt has been badly exposed,” he said.

“After his methodically planned attack on state symbols failed, he is clearly desperate and wants to coerce his way back into power, little knowing that the time of his politics of intimidation, violence and hatred is over,” he added.

“Through such highly condemnable antics, he is only exposing himself, the core of which is defined by putting his personal interest (power grab) over everything else.”

Shehbaz added that the people of Pakistan as well as political parties stood behind the COAS and the armed forces “like a rock” and would thwart “any attempt and conspiracy at undermining their prestige, honour and integrity”.

The premier had released a similar statement in March, condemning the the “vile campaign” against the Pakistan Army and COAS abroad and called on overseas Pakistanis to raise their voices against it.

The PMO statement had come a day after hundreds of Pakistanis Americans had gathered outside the White House, ignoring freezing cold and biting winds, to demand an end to the government’s actions against Imran.

PTI calls PM’s statement ‘shameful’ and ‘irresponsible’

In a rebuttal issued later in the day, the PTI termed the premier’s statement “irresponsible” and “dangerous”.

The party claimed that appointing a person devoid of “self-respect” to the position of prime minister led to damaging the dignity of the post and creating “chaos and disorder”.

“Shehbaz Sharif’s statement is shameful and reprehensible from every angle,” it said in a statement posted on Twitter.

The PTI said that the prime minister was attempting to “use the military leadership and the armed forces as fuel for a controversial narrative” and warned that this could have disastrous consequences.

Referring to the recently-released detailed order from the Supreme Court — in which the apex court had termed PTI Chairman Imran Khan’s arrest illegal — the party said: “The characters who planned to set fire to the country on May 9, crush the PTI and the people standing behind it have been completely exposed.”

It demanded that the prime minister should apprise the nation about whether an independent investigation was held into the events of May 9 and who ordered the arrest of Imran from court premises that day.

“States rise not by false narratives and blind use of force against citizens but by the cultivation of truth and supremacy of law,” the PTI said, alleging that PM Shehbaz had taken refuge in the PMO after “looting Rs24 billion from the state”.

“If there was any life left in the parliament, this frivolous person would have been held accountable and impeached,” the statement added.