Army should not be dragged into politics: DG ISPR

ISLAMABAD: While emphasising that the army was subservient to the government, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Maj-Gen Babar Iftikhar said on Monday “it does not need to get involved in politics, nor should it be dragged into it”.

In reply to a question at a wide-ranging press briefing, he further said there had been no backdoor contact with opposition parties as was being speculated in the media. “Absolutely not,” he said.

Maj-Gen Iftikhar said the criticism levelled by opposition parties against the military was baseless and that the government had given a suitable response to those statements, Geo News reported. “The government of that time had asked the army to conduct the elections and the military followed their orders with honesty and to the best of its ability,” he said, clarifying there had been no rigging in the 2018 elections.

“Even if they [the opposition parties] have doubts about it [the result of the election], they can approach the respective institutions,” he suggested.“To level allegations is not right. The army is subservient to the government and the government has responded to these allegations in a better way.”

Replying to a question about Pakistan Democratic Movement chief Maulana Fazlur Rahman’s remarks, Maj-Gen Iftikhar said he did not see any reason for the PDM to head to Rawalpindi. “If at all they want to come, we will take care of them. Serve them tea [Chai Paani]. What more can I say,” he quipped.

Answering another question, he said the army was simply doing its job and would respond to criticism only when it was felt that was based on facts or held some weight. “We are pre-occupied and do not want to get involved in such things nor will we. We have stayed the course [and] we will stay the course.” The army spokesperson said the European Union Disinfo Lab revealed that India had employed the highest intensity propaganda against Pakistan during its 15-year long disinformation campaign. He said sham media outlets were highlighting fake protests and using motivated content against Pakistan. He said the EU Disinfo Lab had exposed undeniable evidence of Indian hand behind terror acts on the Pakistani soil. He said before dissecting the Indian disinformation campaign against Pakistan it was necessary to ascertain the course being followed by India and Pakistan.

Maj-Gen Iftikhar said: “Pakistan during the past 20 years has fought a successful war against terrorism and proved to be a responsible state. In over 1,200 operations, almost all terror outfits have been eliminated in the country, with the killing of over 18,000 terrorists.” He said in the legal domain, adequate legislation was enacted in order to curb extremism and terrorism, besides coordinated action was launched against such organisations through a comprehensive strategy.

For international peace and security, he said, the security forces of Pakistan had either arrested or killed over 1,100 Al-Qaeda terrorists, besides sharing intelligence with more than 70 countries. Pakistan sacrificed more than 83,000 innocent lives in the fight against terrorism and bore $126 billion economic losses, he added.

On the contrary, the DG ISPR said, India in the past two decades had increased provocations on Pakistan’s eastern border, perpetrated the worst human rights violations and laid the military siege of Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) for more than one and a half years, and in February 2019 made an abortive attempt of aggression against Pakistan. He further said foreign forces were helping ISIS to gain a foothold in Pakistan. Maj-Gen Iftikhar said the overall security situation had improved a lot.