Daily Times

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif Wednesday advised against turning the appointment of army chief into a political debate.

“I can assure you that, at the moment, there is no ongoing process concerning the appointment of the army chief,” Asif said while addressing a press conference in Islamabad. The minister addressed the press conference to inform the media about the government’s action against the social media propaganda that was launched following the Balochistan helicopter crash in Lasbela. The defence minister shared that 18 Indian Twitter accounts were involved in the anti-army smear campaign following the copter crash.

“The law has come into action,” the defence minister said and claimed that in the coming days, “more facts” will be unveiled. A malicious social media propaganda was started following the martyrdom of army officers in the Balochistan helicopter crash – which took place on August 1. The defence minister added that the helicopter crash was an unfortunate event, and it caused grief to the nation. “But the entire nation is ashamed […] after the tweets that came to the fore.”

Asif’s statement came in the wake of reports that the government had decided to arrest all the people behind the negative propaganda against the Lasbela helicopter crash on social media. A campaign was launched against the Pakistan Army by the workers of a political party, and Indian social media accounts actively participated in it.

“He (Khan) witnessed that [Gill’s statements] did not give his party any political advantage nor did it benefit him in any other way,” Asif said, implying that after these events, the PTI chairman distanced himself from Gill’s comments. Asif said a negative social media campaign targeting the tragic incident of army helicopter crash was a joint project of the PTI and India against the Pakistan Army. Asif said 18 Indian accounts were found to be involved in the social media campaign. “Their channels say, ‘the work Imran Khan is doing for us, even if we had spent billions of dollars we would not have been able to create the kind.