ISLAMABAD: A meeting of top commanders of the Pakistan army chaired by Chief of Army Staff General Syed Asim Munir on Thursday called on the government to pass laws to check “unfettered and unethical use” of freedom of expression, saying those spreading “fake news for vested political interests” needed to be brought to justice.
The military’s statement comes as the government has vowed legal action against thousands of supporters of jailed ex-premier Imran Khan who stormed Islamabad last month, demanding his release from prison. The government says protesters killed four security officers in clashes while Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party says at least 12 of its supporters died and “hundreds” were injured as security agencies used live ammunition rounds to disperse protesters, which authorities deny.
Party leaders have described the raid on the protest site as a “massacre,” with social media platforms awash with pictures and video footage that the government has called “fake propaganda” by PTI followers. The government also says there were no civilian casualties. The army was deployed by the government during the raid to disperse protesters, but authorities say only police and paramilitary troops participated while the military acted as a “third line of defense.”
In the aftermath of the protests, the coalition government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif formed two task forces: one to identify and take legal action against rioters and another to track and bring to justice suspects behind what the government describes as a “malicious campaign” to spread “concocted, baseless and inciting” online news, images and video content against the state and security forces.
In a statement released after the Corps Commanders conference on Thursday evening, the army said the forum had “noted with concern the malicious propaganda done in the aftermath of the lawful deployment of the Army in the capital to secure key government buildings and provide safe & secure environment for the valued visiting delegations.”
“This pre-planned coordinated and premeditated propaganda reflects continuity of a sinister design by certain political elements as an attempt to drive a wedge between the public & Armed Forces and institutions of Pakistan,” the statement said in what was a clear reference to the PTI party. “This futile attempt, fueled and abetted by external players, will never be successful.”
The army called on the government to promulgate and implement laws and regulations to check “unfettered and unethical use of freedom of expression to spew venom, lies and sow the seeds of polarization.”
“Those spreading fake news for vested political / financial interests need to be identified and brought to justice,” the statement added. “Forum resolved that Army remains committed to serving the nation & public and guard against all external and internal threats without any bias and political affiliation, and any attempt to pitch innocent people against each other and use of violence as an instrument for vested gains can never be tolerated.”
Khan, who remains a popular figure in Pakistan despite being in prison and facing several court cases, has led a campaign of unprecedented defiance against the Sharif coalition and the all-powerful military, which he accused of being behind his ouster from office in 2022. The army denies it interferes in politics.
