Army Chief rejected a March extension offer, according to DG ISI.
Rawalpindi: In an unprecedented development, Director-General Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Lt Gen Nadeem Ahmed Anjum appeared in a press briefing on Thursday along with Director General (DG) Lt General Babar Iftikhar to discuss the tragic death of journalist Arshad Sharif, and former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s confrontational narrative against the military.
Key points
• Facts behind Arshad Sharif’s death have to be determined • Facts behind “cypher” have to be determined
• Forces did not force Arshad Sharif to leave the country and subsequently leave Dubal too ARY’s Salman Iqbal should be made part of the investigation
Holding protests is a democratic right but no one will be allowed to destabilize Pakistan
At the outset of the press briefing, DG ISPR said that the purpose of the briefing was to shed light on the killing of journalist Arshad Sharif in Kenya and the circumstances surrounding it.
He praised the slain journalist by calling him an “icon of journalism” and expressed sorrow at the deathof Arshad Sharif. He noted that members of the late journalist’s family had served in the army, adding that he always felt the pain of martyred officers.
On the matter of cypher, Lt Gen. Babar Iftikhar said that Arshad Sharif had a different perspective on the matter since he was an investigative journalist. He did several interviews with the then-prime minister. Imran Khan, as a result of which he was shown meeting minutes and the cypher. He went on to say that the facts behind the cypher and Sharif’s death need to be determined.
Giving further details about it. DG ISPR said that Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa had discussed the matter of cypher with then-Prime Minister Imran Khan on March 11. In that meeting, Imran Khan had termed it to be “not a big thing”. However, he said, it surprised the military when Imran Khan flashed a letter at his rally on March 27 in an effort to give a narrative which was not linked with reality.
Lt Gen Iftikhar said that several facts regarding the cypher have surfaced, so far, which have exposed the “hollow and fabricated story”. He added that the opinion of a Pakistani envoy was used by the former prime minister for his political interests.
He went on to say that the National Security Committee (NSC) was apprised by the ISI in a “very clear and professional way” that it did not find any evidence regarding the conspiracy. He added that the military wanted these findings to be put before the country and left the job to the then government. But it was not done. He claimed that at the time, a specific narrative was supplied to Sharif and other media, and an effort was made to malign Pakistan and its institutions abroad.
“In this media trial, ARY News played the role of a spin doctor in targeting the army and creating a false narrative […] the NSC meeting was presented in the improper perspective.” Arshad Sharif’s death
I am Muhammad Sheharyar Khan, a Pakistan national. I recently completed my FSc in Pre-Engineering and am currently pursuing a BS in International Relations at the University of Management and Technology in Lahore. I passed the fourth semester with the Dean’s Award. I enjoy tinkering with language and luring an audience in with the sparks of my speech, which offer a glimpse of information at every level, from local to global.
I am currently enrolled in a programme where we learn to interact with people both locally and internationally and a touch of public speaking where we are pave us for journalism.
I have written an Urdu poetic book and some English stories stories International published books.
