Daily Times

It was really unusual that DG ISI appeared in a press conference the other day along with the DG ISPR. The head of the spy agency doesn’t appear in such public places as he serves the country while remaining low profile as per the demand of his office. It was indeed unprecedented that the head of the intelligence agency had to appear himself in a live presser. He had to do so as a political leader was continuously targeting the Pak Army and the ISI only for his personal interests. The head of the spy agency Lt Gen Nadeem Anjum responded efficiently while defending the institution. He also unveiled the secret activities of Imran Khan and exposed him in front of the public. It is really sad that our politicians tend to cross limits in getting some personal gains, but try to portray themselves as real “revolutionary” in front of the public.

Lt Gen Nadeem Anjum is an accomplished army officer who served in different key positions before being appointed as the head of the spy agency. Gen Nadeem made a policy that he will not appear in public when he took the charge of DG ISI and we also saw that he remained low profile since then. The situation was made so confusing after the killing of journalist Arshad Sharif that both DG ISI and DG ISPR had to address a press conference to bring reality in front of everyone. A perception was made on social media to give the impression that the Pakistani establishment and Pak Army is involved in the murder of Arshad Sharif. It should be noted here that two Indian Muslims were kidnapped in Kenya just before the murder of Arshad Sharif and they both are still untraced. The Indian spy agency RAW is also active in Kenya for last many years and there is also a huge presence of the Indian Underworld there. We must remember one thing: who is getting political benefits after the murder of Arshad Sharif? Who is using this killing to achieve his political goals? Many pertinent questions were raised by Gen Nadeem Anjum that it must be probed as that who forced Arshad Sharif to leave the country. Why did the KPK government facilitate him at Peshawar airport to leave the country? Imran Khan has said that he was aware that Arshad Sharif had life threats. Why didn’t he reveal such life threats earlier? He started political point-scoring just after his killing. These are the questions that must be answered by Imran Khan and the people associated with him. The doubts over the killing of Arshad Sharif will stand here if such questions remain unanswered by Imran Khan.

Our politicians tend to cross limits in getting some personal gains, but try to portray themselves as real “revolutionary” in front of the public.

One thing was established after the presser of Gen Nadeem Anjum that Imran Khan damaged the country’s reputation due to his political activities during the last few months. He directly launched verbal attacks on America in his public rallies. He levelled accusations on the army leadership by giving them the names “Mir Jafar” and “Mir Sadiq.” He taunted the military leadership for showing their neutrality and called them “animals.” Imran Khan must remember one thing he was ousted from the office of Prime Minister as a result of a democratic move. He is the only Prime Minister in the history of Pakistan who was removed through the parliament as a result of a no-trust motion against him. He lost his office as his close aides and allies left him and therefore he should accept the reality.

The respect and prestige of the Pak Army are still intact in the eyes of the people of Pakistan but Imran Khan is now fully exposed. The people of Pakistan still consider the Pak Army as an institution that is always here to serve the homeland. Imran Khan frequently talks about the democracy of the UK and America in his speeches while idealizing them. Can someone even imagine doing politics there by using such fake lies and baseless allegations? The DG ISI has also exposed Imran Khan’s secret meetings with the Army Chief in the night. He is begging to be re-installed as the Prime Minister and therefore holding meetings with the army leadership at night. He also offered a lucrative package to Gen Bajwa to get an unconditional extension as Army Chief. He wanted Gen Bajwa to play an unconstitutional role in getting Imran Khan another tenure as PM but Gen Bajwa refused. The press conference of DG ISI has cleared many things.

Imran Khan also tried to damage the foreign policy of Pakistan by crafting a fake narrative of a foreign conspiracy. It has now been established that the cypher story was a complete lie on part of Imran Khan. It is really unfortunate that our politicians aim to target the army leadership by levelling baseless allegations. The politicians think that the military leadership will not respond in public and, therefore, keep criticizing them. But the presser of DG ISI has cleared many things and now it must be stopped. The leadership of PTI should reconsider its policies and avoid levelling baseless allegations on national institutions.

The writer is an old Aitchisonian who believes in freedom of expression, a freelance columnist, entrepreneur and social activist.