ISLAMABAD: Director General Inter-Services Public Relations Maj-Gen Asif Ghafoor Thursday said that no person was above institutions just like no institution was above country.
“No institution, including Pakistan Army, is beyond the supremacy of Pakistan. Even chief of army staff would have been stopped by Rangers if he had tried to enter the Judicial Complex without [security clearance] card,” he said while responding to a question about deployment of Rangers at the accountability court premises on the occasion of proceedings against ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif in corruption reference, at a crowded press conference at the ISPR headquarters.
Explaining the issue which had resulted in a controversy, the ISPR chief said, “If a soldier is doing his duty and is told not to allow irrelevant people … [Now] it is possible that someone who is not carrying a [authorised personnel] card is [in fact] a relevant person, but Rangers personnel do not know this. We need to appreciate the personnel for their [commitment to their] duty.”
Maj-Gen Ghafoor explained that the Rangers fell in the Ministry of Interior’s purview. “Sometimes it happens that the police ask the Rangers for assistance, and they [the Rangers] take action. When the NAB court had its first hearing, there was some trouble when the former prime minister was appearing for his hearing,” he recalled. “A letter was subsequently written to the Rangers, and there was some coordination in the night as well, so the Rangers reached the court at 7am [on Monday],” he explained.
The ISPR chief said discussion of interference by Pakistan Army in politics was baseless. “Army is directed through law and constitution, and the first task of armed forces is to protect the country,” he stressed. “Any type of instability, either political, economic or developmental, cannot be in the country’s interest, so [the matter] needs to be resolved,” he added.
“When in political discussion, allegations are hurled at the army directly or indirectly,” he said. “We have a role to play constitutionally, and we did. We obeyed whatever the Supreme Court had ordered us to do. Whoever’s domain anything falls in, they will solve it,” he said, apparently in reference to accusations of army’s interference in the Panama Papers case.
“Whatever order the army receives within the law and the constitution, we are required to follow it. In the JIT order, ISI and MI being included was a constitutional order and we obeyed it. In that process, there was nothing that the army produced or gave. We were not party — whatever the Supreme Court asked, we did,” he stressed. “But saying that there is going be a martial law should not even be talked about. We are busy in doing our duty as stated in the Constitution,” he maintained.
To a question about the Milli Muslim League, the political wing of the Jamaatud Dawa, and its participation in the political process, the ISPR chief said that every Pakistani had the right to participate in the polling process.
Maj-Gen Ghafoor said not a single country has faced the threats that faced Pakistan in 2008 and 2009. “There are no other countries like Pakistan, as all other countries who faced such problems either collapsed or had to have foreign armies take control. This is why you will hear the narrative that the Pakistan Army and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) are not in anyone’s control,” he said, while referring to recent media reports that ISI officials had ties to militant groups. “The target of the hostile narrative is the power which stopped them … hence you will hear the narrative that the Pakistan Army and ISI are not in control.”
Maj-Gen Ghafoor said there are four hostile agencies planning to conduct terror activities in Pakistan, and the same has been shared with the Foreign Office as well. “We have to take this war to its logical conclusion. If our resolve stays strong, then nothing can happen in Pakistan. Even now, we have intelligence about four agencies working against us.”
He added that Pakistan has come a long way and the country is moving towards a peaceful Pakistan. “ISAF could never have succeeded without us,” said the army spokesman.
He also quoted a message by Army Chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa wherein he said, “We have travelled a long way amid threats and challenges. We are moving towards our destiny which is a peaceful and prosperous Pakistan. While doing all this, we have contributed beyond our capacity to the regional and world peace. ISAF could never have defeated al-Qaeda without our support. We have done our part, shall continue to contribute and assist in their part for Afghanistan and beyond, but cannot take blame for lack of doing elsewhere by others. As regards India, let it be known that no amount of threat or coercion can deter resolve of Pakistan. There can be differences within, that is part of life and its construct. It happens everywhere. But when it comes to external threat, let it be known that we all are one, irrespective of individual identity, cast, creed, language, religion, province or anything else and that is the spirit of Pakistan.”
While discussing army chief’s recent visit to Afghanistan, the DG ISPR said, “There was some discomfort in security and civil quarters, but it was a great initiative taken by the army chief. In a one-and-a-half hour meeting in a cordial, reassuring environment, our point of view was presented with logic.”
Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor also provided a bird’s eye view of the security situation in the country. “Operation Raddul Fasaad is ongoing. Operation Khyber 4 is in the ground-clearing phase,” he said.
Responding to repeated incidents of cross-border firing along the Line of Control in Kashmir, Ghafoor said, “Unlike India, we cannot fire indiscriminately [in response] as there are Kashmiri brothers on the other side as well. So when there are casualties on that side, it is [Indian] soldiers and infrastructure. Nonetheless, war is not a solution, so we are talking to them [Indian officials] at all levels to stop this [ceasefire violations].”
Published in Daily Times, October 6th 2017.
