ARMY DOESN’T FAVOUR ANY POLITICAL PARTY OR IDEOLOGY In partnership with
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Wednesday, 26 April, 2023 I 5 Shawwal, 1444
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DG ISPR SAYS OVER 70 IBOS BEING CONDUCTED A DAY ON AVERAGE TO STEM OUT WAVE OF TERRORISM
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RAWALPINDI
SAYS ARMED FORCES FULLY PREPARED FOR BEFITTING RESPONSE TO ANY INDIAN AGGRESSION
STAFF REPORT
HE military Tuesday reiterated its “neutral stance” towards any political party or ideology, responding to former prime minister Imran Khan’s suggestion that the government’s efforts to prevent him from running for office were backed by the powerful army chief. “The government and the army have constitutional and non-political relationships, which should not be politicized as it will be in the best interest of all that the army remains apolitical. Political parties need to promote the idea that the army is apolitical”, Director General of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Maj-Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said while addressing a presser at the General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi on Tuesday. In his maiden news conference, the DG ISPR emphasized: “While respect for all political parties is embedded in the ethos of the Pakistan Army, it is important to clarify that we do not favour any political party or ideology.” 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. The chief military spokesperson commenced the briefing by focusing on the army’s counter-terrorism offensives. SPECIAL POLITICAL AGENDA OF NEW DELHI: Beginning with the situation on Pakistan’s eastern border with India and the Line of Control (LoC), Lt-Gen Chaudhry pointed out that the de facto border at Kashmir had remained
relatively peaceful after the 2021 ceasefire agreement. However, he criticised India for spreading “fake propaganda” on infiltration and technical air violations, citing the “special political agenda” of New Delhi. Furthermore, he highlighted that Pakistan had provided complete access to United Nations observers to the LoC, whereas India had not done so, showing that India wished to conceal the situation in occupied Kashmir.
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Mr Chaudhry noted Pakistan had organised 16 visits to the LoC, which included participation from the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) secretarygeneral and foreign media. He, however, said India has not taken any initiative like this to hide the ground realities in the Occupied Kashmir from the international community. He said that India had violated the LoC ceasefire 56 times this year, which included three airspace violations, 22 in-
stances of speculative firing, six ceasefire violations, and 25 technical airspace violations. Mr Chaudhry further said that India cannot change the historical status of Kashmir through “aggressive designs and baseless allegations.” “Should India choose to undertake any misadventure, Pakistani forces will give a strong response,” warned the official. He declared the Armed Forces of Pakistan are fully prepared to respond to all kind of provocation from India and are resolute to respond to any aggressive designs of the enemy. SITUATION ALONG THE WESTERN BORDERS: Talking about the situation along the western borders, MajGen Chaudhry said a surge in the attempts to harm the law and order situation in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has been witnessed in last few months. However, the armed forces, police and Law Enforcement Agencies are fully active to foil 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.
Gen Munir heads to China to bolster military cooperation
ISLAMABAD/BEIJING: The army chief has arrived in Beijing on a four-day state visit to China aimed at boosting bilateral defence ties, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said. According to Radio Pakistan, during the visit, Gen. Syed Asim Munir will hold separate meetings with the Chinese leadership. This is Gen. Munir’s fourth overseas visit ever since he took command of the military in November of last year. In January, he visited Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates (UAE) on his first visit abroad since his appointment. A month later, he visited the United Kingdom on a visit on Britain’s Ministry of Defence invitation to discuss security-re-
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lated strategic issues. After the UK, Gen. Munir again toured the UAE. Gen. Munir “is on a four-day official visit to China for enhancing bilateral military relations,” the media wing of the military said in a statement without providing any further details about the trip. It is common for the new army chief to undertake a visit to China within weeks of his appointment. The delay this time is attributed to the volatile political situation in Pakistan. The visit comes amidst mounting pressure from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on cash-strapped Pakistan to arrange at least $6 billion to bridge the external payment financial gap. STAFF REPORT
Audio clip violation of my right to privacy: ex-CJP ISLAMABAD
STAFF REPORT
Following leak of a latest audio clip on Tuesday, former chief justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar said that his patience and silence should not be misconstrued as ‘weakness’ and termed the leakage of the audio clip “theft”, questioning its authenticity. Earlier, a purported audio leak involving former chief justice Saqib Nisar and lawyer Khawaja Tariq Raheem emerged. The latest leaks added to the controversy already stirred up by a leaked phone call between the mother-in-law of the incumbent top judge of the Supreme Court and the latter's wife. The audio clip was — purportedly of a conversation between him and PTI legal adviser Khawaja Tariq Rahim regarding a high-profile case currently being heard by the Supreme Court. The ex-Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice (r) Mian Saqib Nisar reacted to the alleged audio leak and said that his patience and silence should not be mistaken for his weakness. Mian Saqib Nisar said in a statement that he has the legal right to take action against those who leaked the audio of his private conversation. “It is an illegal and unconstitutional act to record a private conversation of any citizen. What are they trying to get in return by recording a private conversation between individuals? These people are shattering the Constitution, law and moral values.” He further said that the wrong deeds of some people cannot be covered by tapping someone’s private conversations. “Khawaja Tariq Raheem is a senior lawyer and my friend. He sought legal advice from me which I gave him. I did not know for whom he was getting my opinion.” “I am an independent citizen now. I am neither the
chief justice nor part of any bench. If someone is seeking my legal opinion then I would definitely give it. I give legal consultancy without any charges to the people at my son’s office.” The former CJP questioned what message they are giving to the young generation by tapping into someone’s private conversation. He added that the use of tapped private conversations for blackmailing is a serious crime. In the alleged audio clip, Nisar discusses the judgement of a seven-member bench on a "suo motu" notice taken by the apex court in 2010 with Raheem and asks him to investigate the matter. The former top judge is heard describing the details of the judgment and stating that it provides a "way out" for them. The conversation also touches on the removal of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Sardar Tanveer Ilyas as the prime minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir over contempt of court.
Raheem mentions plans to file another contempt case, to which Nisar suggests filing one against Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif through Muneer Ahmed. In the video, Raheem mentions that a verdict by the three-member bench regarding the case of clipping the top justice's powers will be issued soon. An eight-member bench had previously issued a stay on the case. The three-member bench has ordered the government to release Rs21 billion by April 27 for snap polls and warned of serious consequences for non-compliance with the order. ‘MIAN SAQIB NISAR HAS GONE TOO FAR IN NAWAZ SHARIF’S ENMITY’: Defense Minister Khawaja Asif Tuesday declared that Saqib Nisar has gone too far in rivalry with Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N)’s supremo Nawaz Sharif. Khawaja Asif wrote on his tweeter account, “Saqib Nisar Sahib! You have gone too far in Nawaz Sharif’s enmity.” In Twitter statement regarding the alleged audio leak of former Chief Justice Of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar and lawyer Khawaja Tariq Rahim, the Defense Minister said, “Mian Saqib Sahib, listening to your audio, it is very sad. You went too far in Nawaz Sharif’s enmity.” Kh Asif further said that 14/15 years ago, Saqib Nisar narrated two reservations to him regarding Nawaz and Shahbaz Sharif, which were completely baseless, assuring that can tell the truth to the media. Addressing the former chief justice, he said that he took revenge on Nawaz Sharif, and sentenced him. How long will he keep this poison now? MARRIYUM REGRETS 'JUDICIAL BIAS': Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb on Tuesday expressed disapproval of what she viewed as "judicial bias" in some high-profile cases.
IN TODAY’S ISSUE
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Death toll from blasts in Swat rises to 17
irfan.farooq@pakistantoday.com.pk
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IGP OTHER TOP OFFICERS CONFIRM BLASTS OCCURRED IN AMMUNITION STORE OF POLICE STATION SWATSWAT
SYED SHAHABUDDIN
The death toll from the CTD police station's compound bomb blasts reached 17 and about 57 persons were injured in the twin blasts, including eight civilians. Among the deceased are one children namely Azlan son of Meharan and a woman. According to police, among the dead, ten are policemen, two are civilians, and five accused persons kept in custody for interrogation in the police station. About 57 persons were also injured in the blasts, including eight civilians. The deceased policemen were identified as: Sher Alam, Taj Muhammad, Asmat Ali, Khalilur Rahman, Bakht Rokhan, Fazal Raziq; Nahid, Abdullah Khan, and Ashraf Ali. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Inspector General of Police Akhtar Hayat Khan, Peshawar Corps Commander Lieutenant General Sardar Hassan Azhar Hayat and IG FC KP Major General Noor Wali Khan,Chief Secretary KP Nadeem Aslam Choudri and Advisor to Prime Minister Engineer Amir Muqam visited CTD Police station on Tuesday. All top officers also offered funeral prayers for the deceased policemen and laid wreaths on their coffins. The IG KP Police, while giving a briefing to media representatives, said that the number of martyrs in the incident reached 17. “Among the deceased are five accused who were in the custody of CTD police. According to the preliminary investigation, the incident was not due to terrorism, but due to the explosion in the ammunition storage, mainly seized in various operations from time to time by police,” he said. According to Rescue 1122 spokesperson Shafiqa Gul, the rescue operation is underway on the second day, in which about 100 rescue officials and heavy machinery are participating to remove rubble of the collapsed building. She said that about 13 dead bodies were shifted to their hometowns. Protests in Kabala and Mingora Meanwhile, massive protests took place in Mingora and Kabal on Tuesday against the bomb blasts in CTD police station. Though the KP police termed the blasts occurred at a weapon storage facility inside an old office of the Counter Terrorism Department on the premises of the police station, people of Swat raised questions on police claims and stated it was an incident of terrorism. Soon after the blasts, people from all walks of life in Swat condemned the attack, announcing protests in Kabal and Mingora bazaar. The protest at Kabal Bazaar was organized by Swat Olasi Pasoon, while Swat Quami Jirga organized the protest at Nishat Chowk in Mingora. PkMAP’s Khurshid Kaka Ji, Mukhtiyar Yousafzai, Dr Khalid, Abdul Jabbar Khan, Ayoub Asharey, Hameedul Haq, Irfan Chattan and others addressed the gatherings. The protests were attended by a large number of people from across the Swat condemning the attacks. They demanded durable peace in Swat and other Pashtun belts and said that the people of Malakand division would no more be deceived under terrorism dramas. The speakers said that if it by any chance it was believed that it was an accidental blast at the weapon storage facility, then it seemed an unprecedented irresponsible act. They said that Pashtun would no more tolerate terrorism on their land as they believed that terrorism in the country was always carried out for dollars.
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GOVT’S REPEATED CLAIMS THAT A DEAL WITH IMF IS ONLY A FEW DAYS AWAY HAVE BECOME LAUGHABLE LAHORE
PROFIT REPORT
At this point, the government’s repeated claims that a deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is only a few days away have become laughable. On Tuesday, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said the agreement with the lender would be inked formally during next week. The claim came during a public address in the interior minister’s native Faisalabad. But such claims by different government officials have become a dime-a-dozen. The only question is whether the government is still trying to (albeit desperately) convince the public or convince itself. The mantra of right around the corner has been repeated ad nauseum since at least January, when finance minister Ishaq Dar
gave up on his misguided plan of fighting the IMF. Those initial months where the government and the IMF were engaged in a Mexican standoff have brought the country close to default. The IMF team came to Pakistan on the 1st of February, which was already pretty late in the context of the 9th review. What is however more important is the way in which their arrival was anticipated by the government. In the start of December 2022, the Finance minister Ishaq Dar assured that within 2 weeks, friendly countries would lend $3 billion to Pakistan after which the IMF deal will come through. On the 9th of January, the Prime Minister of Pakistan stated that the IMF team is about to arrive in a couple of days. Weeks turned into months, days turned into weeks, but when the IMF team finally arrived, on the 1st
of February, Pakistan was still not able to secure the Staff Level agreement. The two week long visit was followed by negotiations that were supposed to happen virtually. Little to no news left the boardrooms of these negotiations with the IMF but one after the other, steps were taken in lieu of the IMF prior conditions. Contentions on fiscal budget, revenue collection, exchange rate and smuggling all were resolved, and Pakistan imposed additional taxes worth Rs 170 billion. Currency was depreciated but the SLA still did not come through. While presenting the finance (supplementary) bill in the Parliament on the 20th of February, the finance minister said that this was the last step required to fulfill the IMF program. Later, it was State Minister for Revenue Aisha Ghaus Pasha that said written assurance from friendly countries of financing to
Pakistan is something that the IMF team requires. What is perhaps because of the tall claims made by Ishaq Dar last year, Pakistan now has to prove the worth of its friendships. Since then, the entirety of the Q-block has maintained that the IMF deal is about to materialize. These presumably last minute housekeeping issues that took a month to resolve finally seem to have come to a close. After a long wait, Saudi Arabia has assured its financing of $2 billion dollars to the IMF. The UAE has also given assurances. At this point, the IMF deal might actually be close. But with political instability rising in the country and the government out of power outside Islamabad, it is anyone’s guess. The problem is, even if the staff level agreement is signed, the government’s claims have become worth not more than words in the air.