Army has decided to shun politics: Bajwa
Rawalpindi :outgoing Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Wednesday night said Pakistan army had decided ater much deliberation last year that it will not interfere in political maters.
Bajwa delivered his last speech to the Defence and Martyrs’ Day ceremony at General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi and said criticising the army is the right of the people and political parties. But, Bajwa said those who create a rit between the army and the people will always fail. He said the atitude of ‘not agreeing’ with everything should be given up as losing and winning is a part of politics.
“I came to the conclusion that it is because of army’s involvement in politics. So, in February last year, the institution decided that it will no longer interfere in politics,” said the COAS.
Bajwa rejected as “fake and false” claims by ousted prime minister Imran Khan that a Us-backed conspiracy had toppled his government, and also said the military would play no role in national politics in future. “You think that the armed forces would sit idly by if there were an external conspiracy in the country,” Bajwa said, referring to Imran Khan’s claim that the parliamentary confidence vote that ousted him in April was part of a Us-backed plot.
Touching upon history during his address, the outgoing army chief said that he wanted to “correct” some facts regarding the events of 1971, ARY News reported.
“1971 was not a military, but a political failure. Our army fought courageously in East Pakistan,” the COAS highlighted. General Bajwa, during his address, said that the basic job of the armed forces is to protect the geographical boundaries.
“No single party can take Pakistan out of the current economic crisis,” he said, adding that lessons should be learned from such mistakes so the nation could move forward,
Geo News reported. Bajwa has said the army had started its process of “catharsis” and expected that political parties would follow suit as well and reflect on their behavior, Dawn reported. “This is the reality that there have been mistakes from every institution, including political parties and civil society,” Bajwa said at the Defence Day event.
In the final part of his speech, the outgoing COAS said he wanted say a few words on “political maters.”