Pakistan’s ISI chief Lt Gen Nadeem Ahmed Anjum on Thursday said army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa was given a “lucrative offer” by the then government in March amid political turmoil, as the powerful top spy ousted Prime Minister Imran. Khan was attacked indirectly. In an unprecedented press conference.
“I know you are surprised by my presence,” Lt Gen Anjum told reporters in a media interaction for the first time by any ISI chief in Pakistan’s history.
The press conference came as the country was grappling with various versions of the murder of journalist Arshad Sharif in Kenya and indirect allegations against the armed forces.
Sharif was shot dead on Sunday night at a police post an hour from Nairobi, leaving the country in turmoil.
Kenyan police later said it was a case of “misidentification” during a similar car search in a child abduction case.
“As the head of this agency (Inter-Services Intelligence or ISI), I cannot remain silent when they are targeted for no reason,” he said, almost seven months after the cricketer-turned-politician Khan-led government was dismissed. The confidence motion was passed by the National Assembly amid political turmoil and allegations of US interference.
Lt Gen Anjum said the nation has given him the responsibility of carrying the secrets to the grave. “But I will bring those facts to the fore as and when it is necessary”.
The officials, including the Quetta Corps commander killed in a helicopter crash in Balochistan’s Lasbela area, were mocked, he said.
He said that words like “neutral and savage” were used against the army to show that the institution was indulging in sedition.
These words were also being used because the institution refused to bow down to an “unconstitutional and illegal act”, the ISI chief said in harsh words. However, he did not explain the illegal acts.
Lt Gen Anjum said there was “a lot of pressure” in the march but the organization and Army chief General Bajwa decided to limit the army to its constitutional role.
In March, General Bajwa was given a “lucrative offer” for an indefinite extension of his term. It was built in front of me,” he added
He (General Bajwa) rejected it as he wanted the institution to move from a controversial role to a constitutional role.”
Bajwa, who is on a three-year extension, is due to retire next month. Recalling that the army chief was called a traitor and his family was also targeted, the ISI chief asked, “If you see him as a traitor, why do you meet him through the back door?”
“You meet by the back door quietly at night and express your unconstitutional will but call” [the army chief] A traitor in broad daylight.
This is a big contradiction between your words and your actions,” he said in a veiled attack on former Prime Minister Khan.
Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf dismissed the ISI chief’s allegations, saying the former prime minister never made any unconstitutional demands during “backdoor talks”.
PTI leader Asad Umar, along with Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Fawad Chaudhry and Shireen Mazari, told a press conference that the matters discussed behind closed doors were no “secret” as Khan discussed them at rallies and press conferences.
He said that Khan has both the army and the country. But will Imran Khan agree with every decision of the army? He said Khan has a right to disagree with the military and even criticize it.
Umar also said that Khan never said anything that would weaken the army.
Former foreign minister Qureshi said that things got more complicated in the press conference of the ISI chief. “We think a new Pandora’s box has been opened,” he said, adding that the key source at the press conference organized by top military officials was that the institutions had decided to remain apolitical.
“It was always our wish. As per the Constitution, every institution has a role and if every institution lives and works within its role then it will be easy and no difficulty will arise,” he said. .
Former Information Minister Chaudhry said that it is important to respect the institutions as well as respect the choices of the people, adding that the people of Pakistan are with Imran Khan.
In his press, the ISI chief also confirmed that the slain journalists were in contact with the military establishment even when they were out of the country and that Pakistan was not convinced by their assassination story.
“That’s why the government has formed a team that will go to Kenya,” he said. Military spokesman Major General Babar Iftikhar, who accompanied the ISI chief, appealed to the people to trust the institutions.
Iftikhar said, “We can make mistakes, but we can never be traitors or conspirators. Army is nothing without people.” “If we have made mistakes in the past, we are washing them with our blood for the last twenty years. We will never disappoint the people of Pakistan, that is our promise.”
He said the army wanted the facts to come out about the killing of journalist Sharif.
Sharif, a former reporter and TV anchor of ARY TV, and known for his closeness with Khan, was booked by Pakistan’s security agencies earlier this year on charges of sedition and making “anti-state” statements. Kenya had fled.
Khan, who came to power in 2018 with a promise to create a ‘Naya Pakistan’, apparently lost the support of the mighty military after refusing to support the appointment of the ISI chief last year.
In the end, Khan agreed, but it soured his relationship with the military, which has ruled the coup-prone country for more than half of its 75 years of existence, and has so far ruled on matters of security and foreign policy. Used a lot of power.
ISI is the powerful spy agency of Pakistan. In 1950, it was officially given the task of protecting Pakistani interests and national security inside and outside the country.
In the beginning of the press conference, Major General Iftikhar said that the purpose of the interaction with the media was to throw light on the killing of journalist Sharif and the circumstances surrounding it.
He said that Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif has been apprised of the sensitivity of today’s press conference.
Describing the late Sharif as “an icon of journalism”, the spokesperson said he belonged to a military family whose father and brother served in the country’s armed forces.
He termed Sharif’s death an “unfortunate incident” and said that presser was necessary to separate “facts, fiction and opinion”.
Iftikhar said a false story was created around the so-called cyber conspiracy when there was none and the army had informed the political leadership about it.
He said that he had met the late Sharif Khan several times who told him about the cyber story.
“As a result, it was said that he was shown the meeting minutes and the cipher,” he said, adding that the facts between his death and the cyber story must be determined.
“It was a surprise to us when on March 27 a piece of paper was waved and an attempt was made to create a story that was far from reality,” he said, adding that journalists were misinformed to defame Pakistan. was given.
Khan, who was ousted from power in April after losing a no-confidence vote, has often spoken out about a ‘threat letter’ from the US and claimed it was part of a foreign conspiracy to remove him as he was a follower. was not acceptable. independent foreign policy. The US has vehemently denied these allegations.
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