ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Asif on Saturday defended a scathing news conference by the military’s spokesman a day earlier, in which the latter accused former prime minister Imran Khan of promoting an anti-state narrative that he said had become a national security threat.
Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, who heads the military’s media wing as director general of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), addressed journalists on Friday in response to Khan’s latest social media post accusing Chief of Defense Forces Field Marshal Asim Munir of being responsible for “the complete collapse of the constitution and rule of law in Pakistan.”
During the briefing, Chaudhry described the incarcerated former premier as a “narcissist” and a “mentally ill individual,” though he said it up to the government to determine how it wanted to deal with him.
Asked about the military’s viewpoint against Khan and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, Asif told reporters in the city of Sialkot the former premier had long used harsh language against state institutions and political opponents.
“When this kind of language is used for individuals as well as for institutions, then a reaction is a natural outcome,” he said. “The same thing is happening on the Twitter accounts being run in his [Khan’s] name. If the DG ISPR has given any reaction to it, then I believe it was a very measured reaction.”
The minister said Khan and PTI leaders had continued to target the army despite the sacrifices made by soldiers in the fight against militancy and during the four-day conflict with India in May.
He said PTI should recognize those sacrifices by supporting “our soldiers and martyrs” rather than “the terrorists.”
“Imran Khan speaks on every issue. Why did he not speak [in favor of the military] during the war [with India]?” Asif said. “Even during the war he kept targeting the military leadership. He continued to use inappropriate language for them.”
“People whose conduct is like this, whose language does not spare even the martyrs, how can they say ... that the DG ISPR should not say this or should not say that?” he continued. “He absolutely should.”
Asif added that Khan and his party had “changed their identity,” adding they were no longer standing with Pakistan.
PTI has not officially responded to his comments yet.
