- Says stop talking ‘Naya, Purana Pakistan’, only talk about ‘our Pakistan’
- Top military leadership briefs lawmakers on prevailing security situation in NA’s in-camera sitting
ISLAMABAD: Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Syed Asim Munir on Friday declared that the Constitution of Pakistan and the Parliament reflect the opinion of Pakistanis who are the centre of gravity for the state of Pakistan.
“The nation exercises its opinions through the Constitution and the Parliament and Allah Almighty is the supreme power. According to the Constitution, the powers will be exercised through the representatives elected by the nation,” COAS Gen Asim Munir said during an in-camera session of the National Security Committee on Friday.
Gen Asim Munir reiterated that the elected representatives of the people should determine the country’s destiny and the Army will fully support them in the journey towards development and success of Pakistan.
The COAS congratulated the Parliament and lawmakers on the completion of 50 years of the 1973 Constitution of Pakistan and said the nation is the centre of powers and the Constitution and the Parliament reflect their opinions.
Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, the DG ISI, DG Military Operations and top military officials, IG Punjab, Chief Secretary Punjab, Federal Secretaries Interior, Foreign, Finance, Defense, and Broadcasting, the four provincial chief ministers, four provincial chief secretaries, and IGs of police attended the in-camera meeting.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif attended a session of the National Assembly. pic.twitter.com/VBTjnRucz3
— Government of Pakistan (@GovtofPakistan) April 14, 2023
“This campaign is an approved strategy before the establishment of the state of Pakistan. In this campaign, all necessary elements including law, economy, social, and foreign affairs of the government alongside the security institutions will be included.”
“This is not a new operation but it reflects the unshakeable confidence of the nation. There is no no-go area existing in Pakistan at this time. We achieved this success through a large number of shuhadah and ghazis,” said the army chief.
In view of the deepening political crisis, General Asim coined a new term. “We should leave the discussion of ‘Naya’ (new) and ‘Purana’ (old) Pakistan and talk about “our Pakistan,” he said with thunderous applause from the lawmakers.
The Army chief also said that Pakistan had no dearth of resources and manpower.
In response to questions asked by the members of the national assembly, Gen Asim said that talk with the banned TTP was a mistake.
After the Taliban takeover, Pakistan initiated talks with the TTP. Initially talks made progress as the two sides entered a ceasefire and Pakistan allowed hundreds of TTP fighters to return as a confidence building measure.
But the move quickly backfired as the returning terrorists started challenging the writ of the state.
The government and the establishment no longer are following the policy of the previous government.
Gen Asim explained that the current campaign against terrorists was part of the already approved and ongoing strategy of the State of Pakistan.
This campaign will include all the necessary components of government like legal, economic, social, and foreign besides security institutions,” he maintained.
“This is not a new operation but a whole of nation approach that reflects the unwavering confidence of the people, and which includes all elements of the state,” he clarified.
“At present there is no no-go area in Pakistan, Alhamdulillah,” the Army chief said.
“Behind this success is a large number of martyrs and ghazis who cultivated this country with their blood,” the Army chief remarked.
“More than 80,000 people rendered sacrifices in the war against terrorism. Terrorists have gotten no option other than accepting the state writ.”
This was Gen Asim Munir’s first briefing to lawmakers after he became the Army chief in November last year.
After addressing the NSC, the army chief, DG ISPR and other senior military officers departed from the Parliament House.
Meanwhile, the top military officials briefed the gathering on the internal security situation in the country. The DG Military Operations took the House into confidence regarding law and order and counter-terrorism operations in Waziristan.
Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif said that peace was restored by the great sacrifices of our martyrs, this hard work was wasted in four years.
The Prime Minister asked why terrorism returned in the country, who brought it? “All the provinces had given funds for the purposes of ending terrorism and reforming FATA, where did those funds go? Where were the resources of billions of rupees given to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa used? They have to be answered.”
Earlier, the in-camera sitting of the National Assembly (NA) on the prevailing security situation in the country started, following which Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, who was among the attendees, said while speaking to the media that the session centred on national security.
The top military leadership gave a briefing during the session, which was chaired by NA Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf.
According to a National Assembly Secretariat notice, the agenda of the meeting was “briefing on current issues of the National Security”. In it, an invitation was extended to all the federal ministers, advisers to the prime minister, MNAs, and special invitees.
Bilawal reached the Parliament House alongside former president Asif Zardari to attend the in-camera security brief but the latter left the session midway.
صدر آصف علی زرداری اور وزیر خارجہ بلاول بھٹو زرداری پارلیمنٹ ہاوس پہنچ گئے۔@AAliZardari@BBhuttoZardari pic.twitter.com/O8rCuha0lC
— PPP (@MediaCellPPP) April 14, 2023
When a reporter asked Zardari on his way out whether talks were now possible with PTI chief Imran Khan, he said journalist Hamid Mir would be interviewing him later today and he was keeping his answers reserved for that.
Session follows NSC moot
The announcement of the briefing was first made by Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf and later by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on the floor of the house a day earlier after three lawmakers from the treasury benches protested against the last week’s cabinet and National Security Committee’s decision to launch a military operation against militants in areas bordering Afghanistan.
National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervez Ashraf convenes an in-camera meeting on Friday, the 14th April 2023 at 2:30 pm in the Chamber of National Assembly, Parliament House, Islamabad.
Agenda of the meeting will be "Briefing on current issues of the National Security". pic.twitter.com/x00SQJTF4R
— National Assembly of 🇵🇰 (@NAofPakistan) April 13, 2023
Last week, the top civil and military leadership reaffirmed their commitment to thwart terrorism threats and vowed to relaunch the National Action Plan (NAP) within 15 days to crush militants reportedly coming in from Afghanistan.
A press release issued by the Prime Minister’s Office had said that the NSC meeting was in continuation of a previous meeting that was convened after a terrorist attack at Peshawar Police Lines.
“The meeting agreed to launch an all-out comprehensive operation with [the participation of] entire nation and government to rid the country of the menace of terrorism with renewed vigour and determination,” the press release had said.
It had added that the operation to eliminate the scourge of terrorism in all its forms from Pakistan would incorporate measures at political, diplomatic security, economic and social levels.
Political parties, including allies of the federal government, however, have expressed their concerns over the possible military offensive against militants, with most saying that those who brought back the militants should be brought to justice before launching an offensive against militants.
Over the past few months, the law and order situation in the country has worsened, with terrorist groups executing attacks with near impunity across the country.
Since the talks with the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) broke down in November last year, the militant group intensified its attacks, particularly targeting the police in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and areas bordering Afghanistan. Insurgents in Balochistan have also stepped up their violent activities and formalised a nexus with the TTP.
According to statistics released by the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies, an Islamabad-based think-tank, January 2023 remained one of the deadliest months since July 2018, as 134 people lost their lives — a 139 per cent spike — and 254 received injuries in at least 44 militant attacks across the country.
