Daily Times

As the New Year started, there was baseless propaganda on the behest of India regarding the Taliban attack on the Pakistan Army during the process of border fencing at the Pak-Afghan border. The propaganda continued that the Pakistan Army consumed the whole budget of the country. It was also propagated that a deal was being brokered between former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and the establishment as there was friction between the civil and military leadership. These allegations were responded to by the Director-General (DG) Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Maj-Gen Babar Iftikhar in a befitting manner at a news conference, where he exposed the nefarious designs of India openly.

Some pictures recently went viral on social media, in which it was propagated that the Taliban were not accepting the fence at the western border. The Pakistan Army didn’t even bother to respond while some social media accounts operating from India engaged in a baseless exchange. The DG ISPR negated the propaganda while saying that 94 per cent of border fencing had already been completed. He said that Pakistan had a very clear point of view as far as the border fencing was concerned. He also warned those “miscreants” who were trying to create a misunderstanding between the interim government of Afghanistan and Pakistan. As per DG ISPR, there was no problem, the fencing was a work in progress and would continue. He once again showed the resolve of the Pakistan Army to complete the fencing of the 2,600 kilometres-long border with Afghanistan.

It had started in 2017 to curb the cross-border movement of terrorists and drug traffickers. The fence is needed for security purposes and is equally required for the regularization of trade on both sides of the border. Maj-Gen Babar made it clear that the purpose of fencing was not to divide the people but it was meant to make them safe. He went on to say that the blood of martyrs was involved in this fence and it would be the fence of peace.

Our people can sleep hungry but they will not compromise over the sanctity of their country.

According to DG ISPR, Pakistan has cordial relations with the Afghan interim government and the issues are resolved amicably. Pakistan made it clear that the Afghan soil must not be used against Pakistan by the TTP after the Taliban took the reins of Kabul. Pakistan went into the talks with the TTP at the request of the Taliban government just as a confidence-building measure. A ceasefire was brokered with the TTP for a month but it didn’t reciprocate the confidence-building measures. The DG ISPR said that the Pakistan Army would remain to continue its operation against the TTP to get rid of this menace and to keep this country safe from such monsters.

There is propaganda for a long time that Pakistan Army consumes the whole budget of the country although the people are facing a severe economic crisis. The negative campaign further said that the Pakistan Army got an increment in salaries despite the poor economic situation of the country. The propaganda was also responded by DG ISPR as he said that the Pakistan Army always had an eye on the economic situation of the country as they are also part of it. There was no increment in the salaries of the Pakistan Army last year due to the prevailing inflation in the country. There is an organized campaign against the institutions of Pakistan. There is solid evidence that such news was disseminated from the social media accounts being operated by India to sow the seed of hatred among the people of Pakistan against its army. The enemy is completely unaware of the fact that our people can sleep hungry but they will not compromise over the sanctity of their country and its armed forces. The people of Pakistan were ready to fight the enemy at the border with India during the 1965 war but they were told to go back home by our army troops who were alert to save its people.

Talking about the civil-military ties, DG ISPR said that they were in good shape. The civil-military relations were smooth as per the constitution, he said. Maj-Gen Babar categorically denied that a “deal” was being worked out for the return of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. It was baseless speculation, he said. There were earlier speculations that Nawaz Sharif was looking for a deal with the establishment and, therefore, Former National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq had gone to London to meet him as a “messenger” of “someone.” Now, it is clear that the establishment isn’t part of any deal as DG ISPR has termed it as baseless speculation.

There is a dire need that we all should put our weight behind our army instead of becoming part of the agenda of the enemy. Our army keeps us safe from both external and internal challenges. Therefore, we must be very proud of our troops.

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