Prime Minister’s Special Assistant on Political Communication Shahbaz Gill has contested a statement made by Firdous Ashiq Awan, Punjab CM’s aide on information, on the Karachi incident, wherein the police chief was pressurised by the military officials to register a case against Capt (r) Safdar.
Last month, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Muhammad Safdar was arrested from his hotel room in Karachi for raising slogans on the mausoleum of Quaid-e-Azam. The Sindh government subsequently distanced itself from the arrest. Reports later emerged that Sindh police chief Mushtaq Mahar was pressurised by the army men to register a case against Safdar.
Subsequently, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari asked COAS Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa for an inquiry into the incident. The probe resulted in the removal of the Inter-Services Intelligence and army officials.
Referring to the inquiry, Firdous said the army chief ordered an inquiry into the incident on the directives of the prime minister so that a “crisis” could be contained. She added the investigations into the “Karachi incident” and final outcome proved that Pakistan Army was a disciplined force.
However, soon after the statement, Gill posted a statement on his Twitter account, saying the PM didn’t call the army chief in this regard. According to Gill, “Dr Awan’s statement is either her personal analysis or her statement has been run out of context. In order to set the record straight, Dr Awan’s statement is not correct.”
It may be noted here that the PM Imran Khan had termed the abduction of the Sindh IG an incident “that made him laugh”.
