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Thursday March 28, 2024

Dawn Leaks report implementation: Army angry at order issued by govt

By Azeem Samar & Muhammad Anis
April 30, 2017

ISLAMABAD/KARACHI: The Pakistan Army expressed anger at the government order for implementation of recommendations of the DawnLeaks inquiry committee, terming it incomplete and not in line with the recommendations of the inquiry committee, a few minutes after its release by the Prime Minister's House on Saturday.

“The notification on the Leaks is incomplete and not in line with recommendations of the inquiry board. Notification is rejected,” Director General Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) and spokesman for Pakistan Army Major General Asif Ghafoor in his brief but comprehensive statement said.

The notification issued with signatures of Principal Secretary to the PM Fawad Hasan Fawad said the prime minister has directed for action against the Principal Information Officer (PIO) Rao Tahsin Ali under Efficiency and Discipline (E&D) Rules 1973 and withdrawal of allocation of portfolio of the Foreign Affairs from Tariq Fatemi, Special Assistant to the PM. Under E&D Rules 1973, major penalties include removal or dismissal from service or reduction in ranks if an official is found guilty of releasing official secrets.

Following the prime minister’s directives, the Establishment Division also issued a notification removing Rao Tehsin as the PIO with directions to report to the division. 

The notification said the prime minister having considered the findings of the committee as to its terms of reference is pleased to approve the recommendations in para 18 of the report.

The principal secretary while conveying directions of the prime minister referred the matter of Zafar Abbas, Editor of Dawn, and Cyril Almeida, who filed the controversial news story on October 06, 2016, to the All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS). 

The prime minister in his directions said the APNS shall be asked to develop a code of conduct for print media, especially when dealing with issues relating to security of Pakistan.

The government on November 7 formed a seven-member committee, headed by a retired judge Aamer Raza Khan, to probe the release of the controversial news story. The committee was also tasked to inquire into the circumstances of the alleged leak and establish the identity of those responsible. The inquiry committee was supposed to submit its report within 30 days. However, later on it was given further extension to submit its recommendations.

One member each from the ISI, Military Intelligence and Intelligence Bureau were included in the panel. Establishment Secretary Tahir Shahbaz, Punjab’s Ombudsman Najam Saeed and the Federal Investigation Agency Director Usman Anwar were also part of the committee.

Earlier, Information Minister Senator Pervaiz Rashid also lost his job owing to laxity on his part in the light of preliminary inquiry.

According to a report from Karachi, while maintaining that tweets are fatally damaging for the process of democracy and justice, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said that no responsible person would be spared and no such effort would be made in the Leaks issue.

“In case institutions start addressing each other through tweets, then in my view it will be fatally damaging to democracy and justice as institutions should maintain normal mutual relations,” said the minister while speaking at a press conference here at the Sindh Governor House on the conclusion of his two-day visit of Karachi. 

The minister said that correspondence issued by the PM House was not "the much-expected notification on the basis of inquiry report on the Leaks issue" as it was the job of Interior Ministry to issue the notification and the ministry would do so in this case. He said that correspondence made by the PM Office would be sent to the Interior Ministry, which would issue the notification on the basis of this correspondence.

“When there is no notification issued, then God knows why there is so much commotion on this issue,” he wondered. He said the Interior Ministry would issue the notification fully in accordance with the recommendations of the inquiry committee on the Leaks issue.

Nisar said he was going to Islamabad in order to review the issue and afterwards he would further talk on the matter. He said he had been chairing a meeting on security issues at the Rangers’ Headquarters and when he came out of the meeting, he was informed that a notification was issued by the PM House and afterwards commotion started on the issue. “In this regard, I want to make a clarification to the media that just before my visit of Karachi, I had submitted the inquiry report on the Leaks to the prime minister, who told me that the inquiry report on the Leaks would be completely acted upon,” he said.

Nisar said he was advised to cancel his press conference in Karachi owing to the Leaks issue but he responded to the suggestion that cancellation of the press conference would not send any good message. The minister said that once back in Islamabad, he would request the prime minister to visit Karachi to once again convene a joint meeting in the city of the civil and military leadership to review security affairs and to accelerate the pace of ongoing targeted operation there in order to take it to a logical conclusion.

He said that such a joint meeting was required again in Karachi on the pattern of a similar meeting held three years ago at the launch of a targeted operation in the city in order to firmly dispel the impression that the ongoing operation had been slowed down. He said that the pace of the operation had not been slowed, rather there were certain bottlenecks in further progress of the operation, which would be sorted out in the proposed meeting. He said that around three years ago, the entire city of Karachi had been held hostage by a single man. He said the same person used to get the entire city shut down on certain occasions, while on other occasions that person used to set things on fire or get money extorted from the people of the city. He said that people of the city had been held hostage by the same person but the situation in Karachi had changed in the present day as peace was restored to the city.

The minister conceded that street crimes have increased in the city while land grabbing, corruption and China cutting continued unabated. “It was not the agenda of PML-N, but the agenda of the Federation to secure the entire country, including Karachi,” he said. He said that the federal, provincial governments, and intelligence agencies concerned would jointly conserve peace in Karachi. He said that people of the entire country had lent support to the Karachi operation.

Responding to a question on three missing aides of former president Asif Ali Zardari, he said that two of the men had gone missing from areas of Sindh and therefore its provincial government was responsible for this development.

“I have come to know that Zardari Sahib issued a statement that he knew as to who were responsible for the three men going missing. Zardari Sahib should inform me as who was involved in this matter after which I would be in a position to help him,” he said.

To a question, he said that political associates of the founder of MQM Altaf Hussain were not being allowed to do political activities in the city as Altaf Hussain and his comrades didn’t recognise Pakistan while they also sought help from India. He said that political associates of Altaf Hussain would be allowed to become a part of the national mainstream once they announce to duly recognise Pakistan as their native country.

The minister said that the government in around last 15 months had established 72 more passport offices in the country. He said in the previous 70 years’ history of the country, just 70 passport offices had been established. He said that after 31 May, 2017, every district of the country would have its separate passport office. He said that staffers of Nadra and passport offices had been directed to deal with people in a polite manner. He said the provincial governments had been sent correspondence to allot land for establishing new Nadra offices. 

To a question, he said that conducting and airing interview of a person under arrest was an illegal act and such an activity should not be done. The minister informed media persons that during his two-day visit of the city, he had held meetings of political nature at the Governor House, which were attended by local leadership of PML-N and its ally in the federal government i.e. PML-F.

Responding to a question regarding the recent meeting of Indian businessman Sajjan Jindal with the PM, Nisar said patriotism of the PM would not change with just a meeting with an Indian national. The minister said that he had always been well known for his stern stance concerning India and his stance on the issue had not changed lately. He said that in 1999 when he had been a federal minister and the Indian PM had come to Pakistan, he was the only member of the-then cabinet who had refused to meet him. He said that he would maintain his stern stance against India.