RAWALPINDI: Director General Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) Major General Babar Iftikhar has rubbished social media reports about Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa having served a ‘show cause notice’ on Peshawar Corps Commander and former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief Lt Gen Faiz Hameed. General Babar was quoted as saying by The News that the military spokesperson said that the reports in this regard doing the rounds on social media were ‘absolutely false’.
Journalist Asad Toor had claimed in his Youtube video that Gen Faiz Hameed was issued a show cause notice by the COAS either for holding a meeting with Prime Minister Imran Khan or for speaking to Pakistan Muslim League – Q (PML-Q) leader Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi. Toor had claimed to have cross verified the information from three sources. The video went viral on social media and was widely shared in media circles.
Earlier, Pakistan Muslim League – N (PML-N) leader Marriyum Aurangzeb had stated that an official who was recently posted in Peshawar was contacting members of the opposition (MNAs of PML-N) in a bid to foil the vote of no confidence against PM Imran Khan.
The ‘YouTuber’ in his latest vlog claimed that Gen Faiz had been issued a show cause notice by the army chief for either meeting the prime minister a few days ago or for making a telephone call to PMLQ leader Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi. The YouTuber (Asad Toor) said that he had confirmed and crossed-checked his information from three different sources. The vlog is now being widely circulated in political and media circles.
Of late, there has been widespread speculation about the role of Gen Faiz. However, there has been nothing official or concrete about his alleged activities.
A few days after Marriyum Aurangzeb’s statement, Maulana Fazlur Rehman was quoted as having told a group of media persons that ‘the institution’ had become neutral. Maulana added that the institution had taken notice of the individual act mentioned in the PMLN press release.
The ISPR DG, however, contradicted all this as speculation and stressed that the military had nothing to do with politics and it should therefore not be dragged into it by politicians or the media.
Asad Toor attacked
It may be recalled that journalist, Asad Ali Toor who produces a show on Aaj News, was assaulted by ‘unidentified attackers’ on Tuesday (26th May 2021) outside his residence in Sector F-10 in Islamabad. Later, he
was shifted to a local hospital.
In a video message shared on Toor’s social media account following the incident, the journalist claimed that the attackers had asked him about the source of his income and told him to refrain from talking about ‘state institutions’.
Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry took notice of the case and ordered the Islamabad police to investigate the matter.
Toor was also accused in an FIR last year, according to which he had allegedly indulged in propaganda against Pakistan on social media.
However, the Lahore High Court absolved him of the charges after the FIA police told the court that no evidence was found to support the accusations.
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has condemned the attack and asked the government to ensure security for journalists.
“HRCP strongly condemns the brutal assault on journalist Asad Toor by three unknown men who barged into his residence. We see it as yet another attack on freedom of expression and a free press. HRCP demanded that the authorities apprehend and charge the assailants immediately,” Pakistan’s Human Rights Commission said in a tweet.
According to the Press Freedom Index’s 2020 report, Pakistan ranked 145 out of 180 countries for media openness.