–Maj Gen Ghafoor says military supported PML-N govt during PTI’s Dharna of 2014
–Says army doesn’t have any role in country’s electoral process, only acts on govt’s directives
Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General (DG) Major General Asif Ghafoor on Wednesday said that the Pakistan Army has nothing to do with political activities as it is busy in ensuring security of the country.
“Dharna (sit-in) is a political activity and the armed forces of the country have no role in it,” said Gen Ghafoor in a TV interview.
“The work we are involved in does not allow us to become a part of any such [political] activity,” he remarked. The army spokesperson’s remarks came in response to allegations levelled by Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman regarding the military’s involvement in politics.
The spokesperson for Pakistan’s military said that the army’s primary focus is ensuring national security and they did whatever they did to ensure the safety of the protesters.
Maj-Gen Ghafoor said the military supported the government during the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) Dharna of 2014.
“However, it neither has any role in the country’s electoral process nor has it any desire to do so,” he added.
“I do not speak for myself and represent my institution during media interactions,” said the spokesperson for the military’s media wing.
Commenting on the Kashmir issue, Maj-Gen Ghafoor said the armed forces have been sacrificing for the last 70 years, adding that the government and the military have neither made any compromises on the issue nor will they ever think of doing so in the future.
Talking about the military’s deployment during the general elections, he said that the army acts on government’s directives and is only there for security reasons.
Earlier, Major General Ghafoor had categorically stated that they would not allow any effort to harm to the national stability and support the government within the ambit of the constitution.
Talking to a private news channel, he had said that Pakistan Army is a national and impartial institution, which believes in the supremacy of the constitution and law and always supports democratically elected government, not any single party.
Regarding the opposition parties’ complaints about the transparency of polls, he had said that army fulfilled its legal and constitutional responsibility in elections.
The ISPR DG had said the government and opposition negotiation committees are working in a better coordination and we hope this process will move on in a better way.
Major General Ghafoor had said that a year has elapsed now after the government’s formation and the issues are not resolved on streets merely through accusations.
He had said that the opposition has the option to avail their constitutional right and take up their allegations to the relevant institutions instead of accusing the army on roads. He had added that democratic problems must be resolved democratically.
Replying to a question, the ISPR DG had said that during the last two decades, the country has gone through very difficult circumstances fighting terrorism by rendering numerous sacrifices.
He had said that the people and the armed forces of Pakistan had fought against the terrorism which no other could do. He had added that tension persists on the Line of Control (LoC) and Indian repression is going on in occupied Kashmir.
He further said that around 100,000 troops have been deployed on the eastern border and nearly 200,000 on the western border for defence of the motherland.
The army spokesperson said that in such circumstances, chaos and unrest in the country would not be in the national interest.
In response, the JUI-F chief had criticised the army’s role in elections.
“The army is becoming controversial and we do not want to see it becoming controversial. We have gone far away from the Constitution. Every institution is interfering in it. People are not satisfied,” he had claimed, suggesting that all the institutions must sit together and agree on the fact that the country’s constitution was supreme and Pakistan could only be run through it.
“Democratic institutions have become meaningless. There is no democracy in the country. Everyone looks somewhere else instead of people during the elections,” he had added.
“They ask us to go to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). The ECP is more helpless than us,” the JUI-F chief had said. He had added that ECP is responsible for the present state of affairs in the country. He had also lashed out at the ECP for not being able to decide the foreign funding case against the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) that had been filed by a party dissident Akbar S Babar some five years back.
Tens of thousands of opposition supporters led by the JUI-F chief have gathered in Islamabad to demand the ouster of PM Imran, warning of chaos if their demands were not met.
The protest in the capital is the first concerted opposition challenge the cricket star-turned-politician has faced since he won a general election last year promising to end corruption.
Security remains tight in Islamabad with the government and diplomatic sector – just a few kilometres from the rally site – sealed off, and roads blocked from shipping containers.