RAWALPINDI:. October 27,2022: In a rare appearance , Director General Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) , Lt. General Nadeem Anjum , and Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) chief , Babar Iftikhar , held talk to the media here on Thursday .
On the outset of the media talk , both DG ISI and DG ISPR said the purpose of their media talk was to place fact and fiction for differentiate the truth surrounding events relating to tragic death of journalist Arshad Sharif.
The chiefs of ISI and ISPR also told to the media persons that prime minister , Shahbaz Sharif , was informed about the media talk .
DG ISI , Nadeem Anjum, said Imran Khan offered indefinite extension to general , Qamar Javed Bajwa, in March this year and he was an eye witness to this offer. He added that the offer made to the Chief Of Army Staff (COAS) for indefinite extension in office was a very attractive and alluring one and general Bajwa could have it if he had self +centered approach, but he preferred Pakistan and this institution of the army and did not accept the offer. ISI DG said “Imran Khan offered indefinite extension to the army chief in return to help him foil no confidence motion moved against him in March last”.
He said Imran Khan is off and on labelling COAS as traitor . He questioned to Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) chief why he labelled the army chief as a hero whom he appreciated for his great services to the nation as the army chief if in his views he was a traitor.
ISI DG said ” You (Imran Khan) meet the army chief at nights in the dark and blame him with a traitor in the day light?.
ISI chief said ‘”I never saw such a hypocrat and a man with double standard in my life”.
ISI DG put a harsh question to PTI chief and asked him “How can you say a traitor to a chief of the armed forces after passing four years with him as a prime minister “?.
He said Imran Khan called army chief traitor , Mir Jaffar and neutral when the army refused to indulge in illegal activity to give him political benefit.
He said Qamar Javed Bajwa could have easily and comfortably passed the last six months as army chief and go home to live retired life , but he took the task of keep working for Pakistan and its people till his last day in office of the army chief .
He recalled that the army has taken a conscious decision of staying apolitical and despite uncalled for and malicius propaganda it continued to show the same attitude .
The DG ISI said some individuals used a tragedy that occured in Balochistan which claimed lives of six top military officers for their malicious agenda.
DG ISPR said the army intelligence had no information about any threat to the life of Arshad Sharif. He said on the orders of the chief minister KPK a threat alert was issued and said the the provincial government did not share it with ISI.
DG ISI confirmed that Arshad Sharif was in touch with his institution from abroad and wanted to come to Pakistan in the current month and start his professional work, but he went to Kenya where he was shot dead by Kenyan police .
The ISI DG noted thst the army was not satisfied with the claims of Kenyan police that Pakistan’s leading journalist was killed in a case of mis identity .
He said Arshad Sharif was a very nice professional and his killing in a third country is a very painful development which needs to be investigated to a level to establish all related facts.
ISI DG said he was in contact with his Kenyan counterpart and .a team of Pakistani experts was shortly going to Kenya to investigate the killing of Arshad Sharif . He categorically declared that Arshad Sharif, who was from a family of Shaheeds and Ghazizs, had no threat to his life in Pakistan. He said ISI had withdrawn it’s nominees from judicial commission and inquiry committee formed by the government to investigate killing of Arshad Sharif.
ISI DG told a questioner that Pakistani journalists were performing their role In the difficult environment and the army as an institution pays great respect to each one journalist of Pakistan.
ISPR DG said the army wants a through inquiry into the death of Arshad Sharif so that its facts could be put to the people of Pakistan . He said Salman Iqbal, owner of ARY News should be brought to Pakistan to investigate his role in killing of Arshad Sharif .
To a questioner , ISPR DG said the army can not arrest any one involved in malicious campaign against the institution as it is the authority of the government and it was following the same route in each case.
ISPR DG said Imran Khan used a diplomatic issue of cipher for political gain . He said army chief raised the issue of cipher with then prime minister at Kamra on March 5, 2022 and he in return sais it was not a big issue but later he raised a paper in public rally on March 27,2022 to use a issue of relationship with US for his political milage . He said a false narrative was built up through some channels and ARY intentionally misreported the issue particularly regarding a meeting of the National Security Council (NSC) to misguide the nation on this very sensitive issue
