The Director General of the Inter-Services Public Relations (DG ISPR), Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, on Friday assailed incarcerated PTI founder Imran Khan for creating and spreading an “anti-army” rhetoric, stating that such narratives were now out of the realm of politics and had become a “national security threat”.
The DG ISPR was speaking during a press conference in Rawalpindi. At the beginning of his press conference, he talked about a “creeping national security threat” that had become necessary for the military to address.
“That threat emanates from a delusional mindset of a delusional person who has become captive to his own ego, thinking that his wishes are bigger than those of the state of Pakistan,” Lt Gen Chaudhry said, in an apparent reference to incarcerated PTI founder, Imran Khan.
“His ego, his wishes, and frustrations have grown to such an extent that he thinks that the world would cease to exist without him.”
The DG ISPR added that it would be “a bit strange to see it coming from me, but the narrative that person is pushing is no more about politics now but has become a matter of national security.”
According to Lt Gen Chaudhry, it was “very important” for the military’s media wing to clarify, remove all ambiguities and doubts, and say what needs to be said. “We need to understand how this narrative is working, and unfortunately, how it is working in deep collusion with external actors.”
He continued: “To understand that, first, I will set the stage by repeating something that the armed forces have been saying again and again, that we are the armed forces of Pakistan, we don’t represent any ethnicity, don’t represent any language, religious inclination, political thought or school of thought. We have people from all areas of Pakistan, all religions, all sects, all languages, and all political views, but we put all that aside once we wear this uniform.
“That is our pride, that is our honour; we strive, we die daily not for some language, area or political viewpoint. We strive and die on a daily basis for the people of Pakistan, for the integrity of Pakistan. And that we say very clearly, and we also don’t come from the elite class of Pakistan, we belong to the middle, lower-middle, and the poor socio-economic classes; we do not carry the flag of any political actor, class or elitism; This is your armed forces, and we are absolutely clear about the character of the armed forces of Pakistan, starting from a soldier all the way up to his field marshal,” he said.
The DG ISPR added that if someone attacked the armed forces and its leadership for the sake of their ego, delusional mindset and narcissistic way of thinking, “then we will also come and fight bare-knuckle, there should be no doubt about that,” he said.
“That is why we request again and again, you must be doing your politics. We respect all political parties and personalities, but please keep your politics away from the armed forces of Pakistan; don’t drag us into it. We don’t want to be part of your politics. That is why we need to communicate a few things clearly.”
Lt Gen Chaudhry then pointed out ways in which Imran’s rhetoric was harming the armed forces. It is also worth mentioning that while he did not mention Imran’s name throughout the presser, he showed his pictures and tweets on the screen to prove his point.
“First, no one can be allowed to create fissures between the people and the armed forces of Pakistan. Why? Because this is the only armed force that you have. You don’t have a choice; this country doesn’t have any other armed forces. You can have an opinion or observation about the forces, and if that could be a constructive observation or criticism, you are most welcome to do that. But that doesn’t allow you to instigate or provoke the people of Pakistan against the army and try to create a gap between the two.”
More to follow
from Dawn - Home https://ift.tt/b6s4Am1
Comments
Post a Comment