By Justice Markandey Katju
A Press Conference was held today by Pakistan's DGISPR Maj Gen Ahmed Sharif
From start to finish it was a bundle of shameless lies, expressed often in almost abusive language.
The main thrust of Ahmed Sharif's speech and his reply to questions was that Imran Khan and his party, the PTI, had organised the attacks on 9th May, 2023 on army installations, the GHQ HQ and the house of a Corps Commander. and therefore there could be no talks with him, as he and his party were an 'intishari tola', 'siayasi balwai', who indulged in 'zehreeli bayaaniyaan', 'jhooth', 'fareb' and 'makar', unless they publicly apologised.
To a question why a judicial commission cannot be set up to investigate the truth about the 9th May incidents, he replied that though he was not against such a commission, but really there was nothing to investigate, as everyone saw on videos what happened that day. However, the question is who are the people in these videos, PTI workers and supporters, or agent provocateurs hired by the army ?
It is widely believed that the 9th May incidents were stage managed by the army in pursuance of the London plan in collaboration with former PM Nawaz Sharif, to destroy Imran Khan and the PTI and install Nawaz Sharif or his brother as PM in Pakistan, and this certainly needed investigation..
In fact in May 2023, the same month in which the incident happened, the PTI had filed a petition in the Pakistan Supreme Court requesting that such a judicial commission be set up, but nothing came of it.
Those who left the PTI after the 9th May 2023 incident suddenly became 'doodh ka dhula', whereas those who remained in it were arrested, tortured, or persecuted in various ways.
Ahmed Sharif denied that the army rigged the 8th February parliamentary elections in Pakistan, but his statement has to be taken with a pinch of salt. Everyone knows that the real ruler of Pakistan is the army, and the army was determined that Imran Khan must not again be allowed come to power, though about 90% Pakistanis supported him ( as all opinion polls indicated ). Hence it is obvious that on the direction of the Pakistan army the Election Commission of Pakistan and the other authorities did massive rigging.
He avoided the question relating to the complaint of 6 Islamabad High Court judges about interference with the independence of the judiciary, by saying that the matter was sub judice, though it is sub judice before a bench headed by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa who is known to be a toady of the Pakistan Establishment. Everyone knows that in Pakistan there is a long history of the army's interference with the functioning of the judiciary by putting all kinds of pressure, e. g. Chief Justice of Pakistan Munir's validation of Gen Ayub Khan's military coup through his devious 'doctrine of necessity' ( which was used to validate subsequent coups too ), the judicial murder of Prime Minister Bhutto, the Pakistan Supreme Court bench, headed by CJP Qazi Faez Isa, depriving the PTI of its party symbol to damage it in the 8th February elections, etc.
Ahmed Sharif attacked Imran Khan for writing to the IMF not to give a loan to the Pakistan Government, though he did not elaborate the full truth that imran Khan said that such a loan should be given only if the Pakistan Establishment stops violation of human rights in Pakistan. About 14000 people were arrested and incarcerated in jail on trumped up charges of being involved in the incident of 9th May, where they are still rotting in inhuman conditions, and a fascist reign of terror has been unleashed by the army in Pakistan
About the Fauji Foundation, Army Welfare Trust and other such organisations he said they were only to help army veterans, but the truth is given in the article
In fact the Pakistan army has become a gang of looters and a vampire, sucking the blood of the Pakistani people
To a question why Twitter has been banned in Pakistan, he said that the social media has created a 'toxic environment'. But the truth is that the toxic environment has been created by Pakistan's army.
This Press Conference seems to have been organised to dispel any impression that the army is thinking of having any negotiation with Imran Khan and the PTI.
There has been strong criticism of Maj Gen Ahmed Sharif's speech in the Press Conference
The situation now is that there is a direct confrontation between the Pakistan army and the Pakistan people, and the time is coming when the people will rise up and give a fitting response to the army. An army can fight another army, it cannot fight the masses. A tiger can kill a prey, it cannot kill a swarm of mosquitoes.
A guerilla war by the Pakistan people against the Pakistan army seems inevitable
(Justice Katju is a retired judge of the Supreme Court. These are his personal views.)
