DG ISPR promises a “bare-knuckle” response to PTI’s rhetoric; Sounds death knell for politics of ‘mentally ill’ Imran
DG ISPR Lieutenant Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry speaking during an interview to Sky News. Photo: Screengrab
ISLAMABAD:
Top military spokesman Lt. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry on Friday attacked jailed former prime minister Imran Khan, calling him a “threat to national security” and warning that no one would be allowed to incite the public against the armed forces.
Khan’s “anti-army” rhetoric has crossed the lines of politics and now poses a direct threat to the nation’s security, the Director General of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said at a press conference in Rawalpindi. He added that the military has deemed it necessary to confront the “creeping national security threat.”
“Who are you? What message do you want to give? Who do you think you are?” scolded Lt Gen Chaudhry to Khan. He described Khan as a “sick person” and maintained: “They [PTI] has a comical obsession with the Pakistan Army. They don’t talk about real issues and that’s their whole politics.”
“We cannot allow them to establish the business of fake news and lies in the country,” the military spokesman said, adding that a dangerous narrative is being spread. “This narrative that the military is the state is false. The military is not the state; the government is supreme.”
Lt Gen Chaudhry stated that the PTI’s narrative relied heavily on sensationalism, disinformation and a systematic distortion of facts – elements that were further amplified by influencers allegedly aligned with the party and boosted by the Indian and Afghan social media ecosystems. “Under what law, rule or constitutional provision can this be allowed?” Lt Gen Chaudhry asked.
“That threat emanates from the delusion of a delusional person who has been trapped by his own ego and believes that his desires are greater than those of the state of Pakistan,” the military spokesman said in an apparent reference to Khan. “His ego, his desires and frustrations have grown to such an extent that he believes the world would cease to exist without him.”
DG ISPR added that it would be “a little strange to see it coming from me, but the narrative that person is pushing is no longer about politics now but has become a matter of national security.”
According to Lt Chaudhry, it was “very important” for the military’s media wing to clarify, remove all ambiguities and doubts and say what needs to be said. “We need to understand how this narrative works, and unfortunately how it works in deep collaboration with outside actors.”
“To understand that I first want to set the scene by repeating something that the armed forces have said time and again that we are the armed forces of Pakistan, we do not represent any ethnicity, we do not represent any language, religious leaning, political thought or thought. We have people from all areas of Pakistan, all religions, all sects all, all, all political views, but we all wear these one uniform, but we all wear these uniform sides.
“It is our pride, it is our honor; we strive, we die daily, not for some language, area or political point of view. We strive and die on a daily basis for the people of Pakistan, for the integrity of Pakistan. And we say that very clearly, and we are not from the elite class of Pakistan, we belong to the middle, lower-middle, and the poor socio-economic class do not carry the flag of a political class; This is your armed forces and we are very clear about the nature of the armed forces of Pakistan, starting from a soldier all the way up to his field marshal,” he said.
The military spokesman added that if anyone attacked the armed forces and its leadership for the sake of their ego, delusions and narcissistic mindset, “we will also come and fight bare-knuckle, there should be no doubt about that,” he said.
“That’s why we request again and again that you do your politics. We respect all political parties and personalities, but please keep your politics away from the armed forces of Pakistan; don’t drag us into it. We don’t want to be part of your politics. So we need to communicate a few things clearly.”
Lt Gen Chaudhry then pointed to ways in which Khan’s rhetoric was hurting the armed forces.
“First of all, no one can be allowed to create rifts between the people and the armed forces of Pakistan. Why? Because this is the only armed force you have. You don’t have a choice; this country has no other armed forces. You can have an opinion or observation about the forces and if it could be a constructive observation or criticism, you are very welcome to provoke or allow the people to allow it. Pakistan against the army and try to create a gap between the two.”
He said that it was the armed forces that stood between the Hindutva mindset of India and their hegemonic designs and the people of Pakistan.
Continuing his criticism of the PTI founder, Lt Chaudhry said that whenever people meet him, he puts aside the law, constitution and rules to push a narrative against Pakistan, especially targeting the armed forces and its leadership.
The Directorate General of ISPR stressed that it is up to the government, not the military, to decide whether to restrict meetings at Adiala jail or take action on Khan’s social media accounts.
He warned that coordinated attempts to create mistrust between the armed forces and the Pakistani public through malicious designs would not be tolerated.
The military spokesman emphasized the strategic role of the armed forces in defending the country against both external and internal threats and warned that attacks on the military directly undermine national security.
“It is the armed forces,” he said, “that stand between the people of Pakistan and India’s Hindutva-driven hegemonic plans”. “The same forces stand between the nation and the khawarij, terrorists, Fitna al-Khawarij and Fitna al-Hindustan operating from Afghanistan,” he added.
He further elaborated on what he called the PTI’s “anti-state agenda”, linking its support network in parts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa to illegal activities, including drug trafficking, abductions, extortion and widespread use of duty-free vehicles.
The ISPR director general added that hostile foreign elements were exploiting the PTI’s narrative to malign Pakistan internationally and warned that such collaboration – intentional or otherwise – served the interests of the adversaries rather than the people of Pakistan.
He reiterated that the Pakistan Army remains committed to protecting the country and will continue to counter propaganda, misinformation and any attempt to destabilize the state.
“You talk about section 17 of the constitution and freedom of expression, it clearly states that freedom of expression and political activity is allowed, with reasonable restrictions. Under reasonable restrictions, nothing can be allowed that will be against the security and integrity of the state.”
“Article 19 says that freedom of expression is allowed, it is absolute, but such freedom of expression cannot be allowed which goes against the security, integrity and defense of Pakistan. Is it written [in the Constitution] or not? So under what law, constitution or rules, when you meet a convict, he spins a tale against the army and its leadership? This is beyond our understanding.”
“Then he writes a letter to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), asking it not to enter into any agreement with the country, so that the state can default. He then resorts to civil disobedience, does not pay electricity bills, so that anarchy spreads in the country. Let me give you another example from a few days ago: He (Imran) tells his followers of an army and what economy to target the military leader. forces eight times larger than that of Operation Bunyanum Marsoos and Marka-i-Haq And by doing so, they earned the respect of the nation.
He questioned who would actually benefit from such a narrative, adding that anyone living in Pakistan could not have such an agenda against the country.
Earlier, he congratulated everyone on the appointment of the Chief of Defense. The Chief of Defense has started work. In the current warfare situation, it is necessary to work in a coordinated manner across all sectors, including land, air, naval and cyber.
This move was a long-standing need, other countries also have such a headquarters. This step on instructions from Parliament is an important milestone in the country’s defence.
