By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa was given a lucrative offer in March by the then government ahead of the Pakistan Democratic Movement-led no confidence vote in the parliament, the country’s spy chief said on Thursday, launching a veiled attack on ousted premier Imran Khan at an unprecedented media briefing.
“In March, General Bajwa was given a lucrative offer for an indefinite extension in his tenure,” Lt Gen Nadeem Ahmed Anjum, director general Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) told the news conference along with Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) DG Lt Gen Babar Iftikhar.
“It was made in front of me. He (General Bajwa) rejected it because he wanted the institution to move forward from a controversial role to a constitutional role.”
The news conference was hosted to speak about journalist Arshad Sharif’s killing and former premier Khan’s confrontational narrative against the military. It came as the country was grappling with different versions about the killing of journalist Sharif in Kenya and indirect allegations against the military establishment.
Outspoken journalist Sharif was shot and killed on Sunday night by Nairobi police while living in hiding in Kenya. Nairobi police said it was a case of “mistaken identity” during a search for a similar car involved in a child abduction case.
Journalist Sharif fled Pakistan in August due to sedition charges leveled against him for allegedly criticizing state institutions, including the military.
“I am aware that you are surprised by my presence,” Lt Gen Anjum said. “As chief of this agency (Inter-Services Intelligence or ISI), I cannot remain silent when they (institutions) are targeted for no reason. …But when needed and when necessary, I will bring those facts to light”.
The general said words like “neutral and janwar” were used for the army to illustrate that the institution was indulging in sedition. “These words were also being used because the institution refused to bend to an unconstitutional and illegal act.”
Without naming the former premier, the spy chief asked, “Why did you praise him (general Bajwa) so much in the past if he was a traitor?”
“If you see him as a traitor, then why do you meet him through the back door? Don’t do this where you meet quietly at night through the back door and express your unconstitutional wishes but call [the army chief] a traitor in broad daylight. That’s a big contradiction between your words and your actions.”
Talking about slain journalist Sharif, the ISI chief said he was in contact with the military establishment even when he was out of the country.
“Perhaps we and the government are not fully convinced (on the police’s version of events). That’s why the government has formed a team that will head to Kenya.”
He went on to say that intelligence officers had been removed from the probe teams to conduct a “fair probe”.
In response to a question about the journalist receiving threats from the ISI, the spy chief said journalist Sharif had “good contacts” with his subordinates. “We had no personal enmity with him. He had old contacts with our officers.”
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