Pakistan Army not leaning towards any political party, vision, ideology: DG ISPR

RAWALPINDI: Director General Inter-Services Public Relations (DG-ISPR) Major General Ahmed Sharif has said that Pakistan Army is a national army and it does not lean towards a political party, vision or ideology, ARY News reported on Tuesday.

While addressing his first press conference in Rawalpindi since his appointment as head of the military’s media wing, DG ISPR Major General Ahmed Sharif said that Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Syed Asim Munir believes that the centre of real power is the nation. “Pakistan Army is a national army and it respects all politicians and political parties.”

“Constitution of Pakistan gives right to every Pakistanis for freedom of expression, however, the same Constitution puts some boundaries for the use of the right under some laws and restrictions. Some people may use this right in personal capacity and others may have some political objectives.”

The head of the military’s media wing further said that the institution gives importance to constructive criticism, however, Pakistani armed forces cannot be pressurised by bullying and deception like any other military forces in the world.

Major General Ahmed Sharif said that ex-servicemen are our assets and they rendered sacrifices for the country. The ex-servicemen associations were formed for their welfare but they do not have any political or commercial objectives. The DG ISPR clarified that veterans are not exempted from the law and their organisations should not wear the cloak of politics.

He further said that the government and the army have constitutional and non-political relationships and should not be politicised. It is in the best interest of all that the army remains apolitical.

The DG ISPR added that only chaos has spread in that country where the military is used for a particular political vision, ideology or religion. The nation and the military do not want to see the armed forces leaning towards a specific political party because the political use of the military leads to chaos.

He asked the political parties to promote the idea that the army is apolitical.

Election security

Maj Gen Sharif said that the military gives its opinion based on ground realities to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and the court through the defence ministry regarding the election security arrangements.

He said that the defence ministry elaborated on the current situation before the Supreme Court (SC) and the ECP. He added that the details of the meeting between the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) and the senior military officers cannot be made public.

The DG ISPR said that the government implements military deployments under Article 245. The defence ministry apprised the ECP and the court regarding the provision of army contingents for election security, he added.

He said that there is a strong accountability and justice system existing in the military institutions. Whenever we get evidence against anyone, then the individual faces accountability, said the DG ISPR.

‘Military mindset against terrorists’

Maj Gen Sharif said that the army chief expressed his views about building national consensus to cope with the national challenges. He further said that negotiations with the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) was the decision of the then government, whereas, the armed forces have a military mindset against terrorists.

He added that the military mindset of the armed forces will continue till the elimination of the last terrorists and the establishment of permanent peace.

Regarding Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) police, the DG ISPR said that the sacrifices of the KP police force are not hidden from the nation. “We are improving the efficiency of the KP police. It is sorrowful that the KP police is criticised for general incidents. We are standing with the KP police and will always support it.”

The head of the military’s media wing said that baseless propaganda is being carried out against the armed forces through fake social media accounts of the ISPR.

Kabal incident

Maj Gen Sharif said that the Kabal incident was sorrowful and Inspector General Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (IG KP) gave a detailed briefing regarding the blasts at the CTD police station. He said that evidence showed that it was not a terrorism incident.

“Kabal incident was apparently an accident as the pieces of evidence show that weaponry was stored on the first floor of the building. Rescue operation of Pakistan Army and other security institutions is still underway.”

Borders situation, fencing and CT ops

He said that the armed forces are fully prepared to respond to all kinds of provocation from India and are resolute to respond to any aggressive designs of the enemy.

He said India has committed 56 ceasefire violations since January this year and during these infringements, Pakistan shot down six spy quadcopters of India. He said India is involved in spreading false and unfounded propaganda of infiltration and technical air violations against Pakistan to achieve a particular political agenda of the rulers of New Delhi.

“We have always cooperated with the UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan and arranged a number of visits of the UNMOGIP, international media and the Secretary General of the OIC to the Line of Control (LoC).” He, however, said India has not taken any initiative like this to hide the ground realities in the Occupied Kashmir from the international community.

Talking about the situation along the western borders, Ahmed Sharif said a surge in the attempts to harm the law and order situation in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has been witnessed in the last few months.

However, the armed forces, police and law enforcement agencies (LEAs) are fully active to foil the designs of the foes of the country. He said the armed forces are fully focused to ensure internal and border security and they are playing a cardinal role in breaking terrorists’ networks.

The military spokesperson said around 436 incidents of terrorism have been reported in the current year and the security forces conducted 8269 intelligence-based operations (IBOs) during which around 1535 terrorists were either killed or arrested.

He said the security forces are conducting over 70 operations on a daily basis to eliminate the scourge of terrorism from the soil of Pakistan.

He said with the unmatched sacrifices of the people and the armed forces of Pakistan, there is no “no-go area in Pakistan.” However, there exist some sleeper cells of terrorists in some parts of Pakistan, which are being taken on by the armed forces on a daily basis. He said large caches of arms and ammunition have also been recovered from terrorists and their facilitators during these operations.

He said handlers and masterminds of terrorists are also being exposed. He said Police Lines Peshawar Mosque attack was conducted by a member of the Jamat-e-Ahrar at the whims of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan. He said the suicide bomber, who executed this attack was an Afghan national. Similarly, all three perpetrators of the attack on the Karachi Police Office (KPO) were killed in retaliatory action by the security forces.

The DG ISPR further said that 137 officers and personnel of the security forces embraced martyrdom in the fight against terrorism this year. He said our war against terrorism will continue till the elimination of the last terrorism from Pakistan.

Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry further said around 3141 kilometre-long border has been fenced along the frontiers with Afghanistan and Iran to prevent infiltration of terrorists. He said 98 per cent border with Afghanistan and 85 per cent with Iran has been fenced, while 85 per cent of forts along the Afghanistan frontier and 33 percent with Iran have been completed. He further said that 65 per cent of erstwhile tribal areas have been cleared of land mines.

Highlighting measures for the socio-economic uplift of the people, the ISPR Chief said that 3654 projects are being completed at a cost of 162 billion rupees in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, while 95 per cent of the affected population has returned to homes. He said that around 14,000 people have been given jobs in Pakistan Army and the Frontier Corps under Youth Employment Scheme. Similarly, over 1200 students are getting education in various institutions.

Regarding Balochistan, the DG ISPR said the security forces are providing security to the projects being completed under China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). He said the army has also announced various welfare projects for the people of Gwadar.