In a major breakthrough in normalisation of civil, military relations, Chief of Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa called on Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Thursday night and the government is likely to issue a new notification in the implementation of the probe committee recommendations.
The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the armed forces, neither confirmed nor denied the meeting. Information minister also did not respond.
The much-awaited meeting between the civilian and military leadership was being awaited since the relations between both the sides soured following the prime minister’s office released a notification in wake of the report of the probe committee on Dawn Leaks controversy.
The Director General of the ISPR, Maj-Gen Asif Ghafoor on April 29 had tweeted following the federal government’s notification to implement the recommendations of the probe committee on Dawn news controversy, stating that the notification was not in line with the probe committee’s recommendations and hence the notification had been rejected by the military.
The tweet had sent shockwaves across the political and public circles which reflected a total breakdown of communication between the civil and military leadership. The use of Twitter for conveying military’s dissent and anger reflected the concerns and frustration among the military ranks and field.
The media and civil society had also reacted to the military’s going public with dissent and rejection of PM’s orders were being seen as a serious violation of the code of conduct of the armed forces.
A well-placed source in the federal government however informed that the meeting, facilitated by Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif, was held in a pleasant environment and prime minister briefed the army chief the government’s strategy to implement the recommendations of the probe committee.
The source said that the prime minister conveyed to the army chief his displeasure over the way the Director General of the ISPR had publically reacted to the notification issued by the prime minister’s office.
“The prime minister was of the view that there are formal channels and standard operating procedures (SoPs) to convey reservations between the civil and military leadership. He was of the view that public forums should not be the forum to convey reservations, if any,” the source added.
The source said that the army chief also conveyed to the prime minister the reservations of the military over the non-implementation on the recommendations of the probe committee.
The source said that the prime minister assured Gen Bajwa that the federal government would implement the recommendations of the probe committee.
The source said that the interior ministry would most likely to issue a notification in a day or two to alleviate the reservations of the military leadership.
