Putting speculations about a military takeover to rest, veteran journalist and renowned analyst Arif Nizami said on Tuesday that some hidden hands are behind the campaign in which posters calling for intervention of Army Chief General Raheel Sharif have been installed in cantonment areas across the country.
Pakistan Today Editor Nizami, during his talk show DNA on Channel 24, also questioned how these posters were installed in cantonment areas, and remarked that whoever was behind this campaign could not be called a friend of Pakistan.
Commenting on senior PPP leader Aitzaz Ahsan’s statement that these banners were a ploy of the PML-N government, Nizami said Aitzaz might have thought that it was being done to divert attention and create an environment of uncertainty.
He however said that the army’s media wing, Inter-Services Public Relations, should clear the air by issuing a statement. “The army should clarify that it does not have any link with the posters campaign, and that there should be no discussion on it,” he added.
Nizami said that martial law was no solution to the problems facing the country and the army was aware of it so there was no threat to the government from the armed forces. He however went on to add that the harmony between the army and civilian govt was not what it should be.
About principal contradictions between the civilian government and army, Nizami said Prime Minister Sharif believed that the army did not allow his government to work freely, while the army thought that the premier wanted to trade with India, Pakistan’s archrival.
According to Nizami, the issue of the posters campaign also came up during Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and Opposition Leader in National Assembly Khursheed Shah’s meeting about the Terms of Reference for a probe into Panama leaks on Tuesday.
About Imran Khan’s third marriage, Nizami said Khan was not married yet but he might have future options under consideration.