General Pasha seeks inquiry to clear his name

ISLAMABAD: In an interesting development, former ISI chief Lt Gen (retd) Ahmad Shuja Pasha has sought an inquiry into the veracity of the allegations involving him in the London Plan and the anti-government 2014 sit-ins, it has been learnt.
Sources said that Gen Pasha had approached the authorities concerned with the request that an inquiry be held into the matter to determine whether or not he had any role in the making of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) or in last year’s sit-ins.
These sources said that Gen Pasha believed that he was being wrongly maligned by certain politicians and the media. It is said that Pasha has offered himself for accountability and is prepared to defend his role even as DG ISI.
The sources said that Pasha wanted to clear his name and prove all those wrong who had involved him in the 2014 anti-government sit-ins or in the creation and strengthening of the PTI. It is said that Pasha also wants to confront all his accusers, mostly associated with the ruling PML-N and some in the media.
Pasha has been accused of using his muscles as the ISI chief to the benefit of the PTI. After his retirement, he was accused of conspiring against the government through the 2014 sit-ins.
Privatisation Commission Chairman Mohammad Zubair, who is the brother of PTI’s Asad Umar, had said in an interview that when he was not in politics and was part of the corporate world, Gen Pasha met some people of the corporate world and asked them to join the PTI. Zubair said he was also one of the participants of that meeting. He said the PTI sit-in was backed by Gen Pasha.
A few weeks back, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif named Gen (retd) Zaheer and Gen (retd) Pasha being the two actors behind the 2014 sit-ins. After the defence minister’s statement, demands are being made by different political leaders to get the issue probed and fix the responsibility.
Initially, it was Altaf Hussain and Javed Hashmi who had demanded this but later no less a person than Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif said a commission, comprising leaders of parliamentary parties should be constituted to probe who did what in the 2014 anti-government sit-ins.
Of late, PTI leader Imran Khan, whose party is alleged to have played into the hands of some disgruntled elements of the establishment to destabilise the PML-N government, also sought an inquiry into the matter.
Khan said were he the prime minister, he would have ordered an inquiry against the general for destabilising his government. However, the government is not keen to pursue the matter to avoid a fresh controversy that may cause a mistrust between the civil and military authorities.
Sources said that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was advised in 2014 to proceed against the then DG ISI Lt Gen (retd) Zaheer but he showed considerable restraint despite having been given some “solid information” about the alleged involvement of Zaheer in the anti-government political agitation. As against Zaheer, Pasha was a retired military officer in 2014.