New Delhi (NVI): In Pakistan, action will be taken “within 72 hours” against anyone using “derogatory language” against the country’s army or any other state institutions.
This warning was issued today by Pakistan’s Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed against the backdrop of a declaration by leader of the opposition 11-party coalition Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) Maulana Fazlur Rehman that their public campaign will target not only the government but also its “backers”, implying the Army.
Rehman also said yesterday that the PDM’s proposed long march to the capital Islamabad could go up to “Rawalpindi”, a reference to the Army headquarters.
The PDM has been carrying out a campaign to oust the Imran Khan government over the last few months. It has held massive public rallies in various cities of Pakistan, which demonstrated growing popular mood against the Khan government.
PDM terms Khan as a Prime Minister who has been “selected” by the Army rather than being elected. The Opposition in unison asserts that the 2018 elections had been rigged and managed by the Pakistan Army to foist Khan as the Prime Minister.
At the rallies, PDM leaders, particularly three-time former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, have been mincing no words in attacking Army Chief Gen Qamar Bajwa for over indulgence in politics and not allowing democracy in the country.
It is well known that in Pakistan, the Army is all powerful and has key role in deciding who will rule the country.
Pakistan, in fact, has the black record of no political government completing its full five-year term, thanks to the coups staged by the Army, overtly or covertly.
