Military fields ISI chief to slam Khan

NEW DELHI: Pakistan’s military launched a no-holds-barred onslaught against former premier Imran Khan on Thursday, accusing him and his supporters of maligning the army leadership and creating divisions within the polity and the people.

The Pakistan Army resorted to the unusual step of fielding the Inter-Services Intelligence chief, Lt Gen Nadeem Anjum, to brief the media on the recent killing in Kenya of journalist Arshad Sharif, who was perceived to be close to Khan. The first media briefing by an ISI chief, however, largely focused on Khan’s increasingly troubled relationship with the military after his ouster in April.

The media briefing also came a day ahead of a planned “long march” by Khan and his Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf party to press for early elections. During the media briefing by the ISI chief and the chief military spokesman, Lt Gen Babar Iftikhar, the military alleged its leadership was being maligned for refusing to help Khan through “illegal and extraconstitutional means” when he faced the trust vote in the National Assembly.

The ISI chief said he was present when army chief Gen Qamar Bajwa was offered and declined an “indefinite extension” in March. Though Anjum didn’t specify who made the offer, it was obvious he was referring to Khan as his government was in power at the time. “You must be surprised to see me here today…I’m here because my institution (army) and agency (ISI) are being maligned through lies. I could not have remained silent anymore, especially when there is threat of divisions because of one-sided lies,” Anjum said, speaking in a mix of Urdu and English.

“I’ve come to break the silence,” said Anjum, who has stayed away from the media and the limelight since he became the ISI chief last year. Pakistan’s military has been grappling with harsh criticism from Khan and other PTI leaders since he lost the vote of no-confidence. Khan, who enjoyed the military’s unstinted support for more than three years, even resorted to the unusual step of calling on the army not to remain neutral in the current scenario.

Iftikhar said: “Lies were propagated and a narrative was crafted presenting the vote of no-confidence - a political, constitutional, and legal matter... besides maligning the institution.”This was done to pressure the army to resort to a political intervention and “neutrality” was used as an euphemism for insulting the army for staying away from politics, he added.

The ISI chief also accused Khan of indulging in doublespeak by “holding meetings with the military leadership behind closed doors at night and maligning them in the light of day”.