DON’T we all know? It can, indeed, become a little problematic to publicly acknowledge a source — or even provide a perfect trail for a potential transaction.

Even so, there is much curiosity about the mystery messenger who, the well-heeled PTI chief says, brought him an offer of Rs10bn from the prime minister in return for not pursuing the Panama Papers scandal. It is perhaps the most generous — and puzzling — such ‘offer’ in the history of the country. For while Imran Khan might find himself in an awkward position if the accountability wagon he is so fond of riding were to one day stop at his own doorstep, a weakness for accepting bribes has so far hardly figured in the list of accusations against him. In fact, to his credit, the former skipper has a very reputable hospital run on donations. But what is even more bizarre than the purported offer is the thought that someone could actually be foolish enough to offer such inducements to an opposition leader at the prime of his political career.

Quite a lot of other details are missing from this episode as well, leading to concerns that the PTI might have fumbled yet again. It is known that while Mr Khan may have learnt to be extremely cautious with names and words, he can still be a little rash when it comes to numbers. His party, and his own reputation, suffered after his rather infamous mention of the 35 punctures — he had alleged that no less than 35 electoral seats had been rigged resulting in a victory for the PML-N in the 2013 general election. Unless he can substantiate his latest allegations quickly, the PTl leader is bound to expose himself to much unwanted scrutiny and criticism — as well as a generous dollop of ridicule. The government is no doubt under considerable strain after the Panama verdict. But Mr Khan’s risky swipe may end up causing injury to no one but his own standing.

Published in Dawn, April 28th, 2017