ISLAMABAD: Pakistani army chief General Syed Asim Munir on Thursday spoke out against social media users in the country, saying online platforms were being used to spread “anarchy,” state broadcaster Radio Pakistan reported.
Munir’s remarks come days after the military spokesperson Lt. Gen. Ahmad Sharif Chaudhry, in a veiled reference to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party of jailed ex-premier Imran Khan, accused “digital terrorists” of making the military’s anti-militancy efforts controversial using social media platforms.
Khan’s popularity, which persists even from behind bars, has been fueled by social media, including driving Pakistan’s young people to turn out to vote in Feb. 8 elections in which Khan-backed candidates won the greatest number of seats despite having to contest as independents after the PTI was deprived of its iconic bat symbol by the election commission.
Khan, who is widely believed to have been propelled to power with the backing of the military in 2018, was ousted in a parliamentary no-trust vote he blames was orchestrated by the military in cahoots with his political rivals. Both deny the charge. Since his ouster, his party has faced a state-backed crackdown that has only seemed to bolster support for Khan and which has been publicized widely on social media, along with unprecedented criticism of heavy hand in politics. The current military leadership says it no longer interferes in politics.
“He [Munir] said smugglers and mafia are supporting terrorism while anarchy is also being spread through social media,” Radio Pakistan said, reporting on the army chief’s comments at a conference in Islamabad.
The army chief’s comments come amid a ban on X in Pakistan since February when a government official held a press conference and made confessions of rigging in the general election. The government also has reportedly begun installing a nationwide firewall to regulate Internet usage, control access to social media sites, including Facebook, YouTube, and X, and empower the government to identify IP addresses associated with what it calls “anti-state propaganda.”
Speaking at Thursday’s ceremony, the army chief resolved to give a “befitting response” if anyone attempting to create “unrest and chaos” in Pakistan.
“No power in the world can harm Pakistan because this country has been created to sustain,” Radio Pakistan said, quoting Munir.
Speaking about a surge in militancy in Pakistan, the army chief urged Pakistani religious scholars to encourage tolerance.
“Spreading unrest is the biggest crime and the Pakistan Army under the ordains of Allah Almighty is striving to eliminate unrest,” the army chief said. “We do not consider such people as Pakistanis who do not accept Shariah [Islamic law] and the constitution.”
Army chief says ‘anarchy’ being spread through social media in Pakistan
https://arab.news/nt4z7
Army chief says ‘anarchy’ being spread through social media in Pakistan
- Popularity of jailed ex-PM Imran Khan has been fueled largely by young social media users
- X has been banned in Pakistan since February and government is reportedly installing a firewall
At UNSC, Pakistan warns competition for critical minerals could fuel global conflict
- The demand for critical minerals has surged worldwide due to rapid expansion of electric vehicles, advanced electronics and clean energy technologies
- Pakistan’s representative says all partnerships in critical minerals sector must be ‘cooperative and not exploitative’ and respect national ownership
ISLAMABAD: Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, Pakistan’s permanent representative to the United Nations (UN), has warned that intensifying global competition over critical minerals could become a new driver of global conflict, urging stronger international cooperation and equitable access to resources vital for the world’s energy transition.
The warning comes as demand for critical minerals and rare earth elements surges worldwide due to the rapid expansion of electric vehicles, advanced electronics and clean energy technologies, with governments and companies increasingly competing to secure supply chains while raising concerns that this may lead to geopolitical rivalries in the coming years.
Speaking at a Security Council briefing on ‘Energy, Critical Minerals, and Security,’ Ahmad said experience showed that the risks of instability increased where mineral wealth intersected with weak governance, entrenched poverty and external interference.
“Access to affordable, reliable and sustainable energy is essential for development, stability and prosperity. The global transition toward renewable energy, electric mobility, battery storage and digital infrastructure has sharply increased the demand for critical minerals,” he said.
“This upsurge has generated new geopolitical and geo-economic pressures. If not managed responsibly, competition over natural resources can affect supply chains, aggravate tensions, undermine sovereignty and contribute to instability.”
In several conflict-affected settings, he noted, illicit extraction, trafficking networks and opaque financial flows have fueled armed conflict and violence, weakened state institutions and deprived populations of legitimate revenues.
“The scramble for natural resources and its linkage to conflict and instability is therefore not new,” Ahmad told UNSC members at the briefing. “Pakistan believes that natural resources must serve as instruments of economic development and shared prosperity, and not coercion or conflict.”
He urged the world to reaffirm the right of peoples to permanent sovereignty over their natural resources, saying all partnerships in the critical minerals sector must be cooperative and not exploitative, respect national ownership, ensure transparent contractual arrangements and align with host countries’ development strategies.
“In order to prevent the exploitation of mineral-producing countries and regions, particularly in fragile and conflict-affected settings, support their capacity-building for strengthening domestic regulatory institutions, combating illicit financial flows, ensuring environmental safeguards, and promoting equitable benefit-sharing with local communities,” he asked member states.
“Promote equitable participation in global value chains. Developing countries must be enabled to move beyond extraction toward processing, refining and downstream manufacturing. Technology transfer, skills development and responsible investment are essential to avoid perpetuating structural imbalances.”
