Gen Sharif to form ‘Shuhuda Trust’ after retirement

BARA: Outgoing Army Chief General Raheel Sharif says he will transfer his powers on November 29 — the day he quits his office.

Addressing a jirga (consultative body) of tribal elders in Bara tehsil of Khyber Agency, the army chief said he boosted morale of Pakistan Army during his tenure.

The army chief said if Pakistan launch surgical strikes, India would not be able to forget it for generations to come.

Sharing his post-retirement plans, General Sharif said he will form ‘Shuhuda Trust’ after he leaves his office.

He expressed his desire to serve his life for the martyrs after the retirement.

The retiring general is immensely popular among ordinary Pakistanis, who see him as a bulwark against crime, corruption and militant violence.

According to reports, the military high command has sent the prime minister the dossiers of four main contenders.

The premier’s favourite, the aides said, was Lieutenant General Javed Iqbal Ramday, commander of XXXI Corps who led a 2009 operation to drive the Pakistani Taliban militant movement from Swat Valley near the Afghan border.

The three other dossiers are for Lieutenant General Zubair Hayat, Chief of General Staff, Lieutenant General Ishfaq Nadeem Ahmad, commanding officer in the eastern city of Multan, and Lieutenant General Qamar Javed Bajwa, who heads the army’s Training and Evaluation Wing.