Extension sought in COAS’s term

“The campaign led by the COAS has eliminated 90 per cent of the terrorists from the country,” the petitioner says

LAHORE: A petition has been moved in Lahore High Court seeking extension in the tenure of the chief of army staff and the corps commanders to “weed out terrorism and for welfare of the state.”

Advocate Rana Illmuddin Ghazi filed the petition on Thursday. The petitioner has named the federation of Pakistan through Establishment Division secretary, the Ministry of Interior, the Foreign Ministry, Prime Minister’s Advisor on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz and PM’s Special Advisor on Foreign Affairs Tariq Fatemi as respondents in his petition. The petitioner said he was a patriotic citizen of the country.



“Disunity among politicians led to break up of Pakistan in 1971. Their differences led to imposition of martial law. Later, the armed forces were blamed for taking over.”

The petitioner said terrorism had grown due to ‘bad’ policies of successive governments. “Everyone has been affected by terrorism. Children have been attacked, places of worship have been bombed, schools have been destroyed and police failed to control it such activities.”

The petitioner said Pakistan Army had been asked to deal with this situation and Operation Zarb-i-Azb was launched. “The campaign led by the COAS has eliminated 90 per cent of the terrorists from the country,” the petitioner said. He said the government of Pakistan should be grateful to the army chief for helping it establish its writ.



The petitioner said the operation against the terrorists was not over. “We must allow the current military leadership to continue its work,” he said. He said citizens were fed up with the politicians and loved General Raheel Sharif. The petitioner asked for a four-year extension in the army chief’s term. He said there was no need for a constitutional amendment in this regard as the Army Act provided provisions in this regard.

Several lawyers The Express Tribune talked to said the petition would likely not be taken up in court and would be returned by the registrar. Advocate Makhdoom Tipu Salman called it a ploy to gain media attention.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 29^th, 2016.