Military vows to ‘defeat designs of hostile agencies’

Says decision to revive military courts rests with govt

ISLAMABAD: Top military commanders have said that ‘hostile agencies’ are trying to undo Pakistan’s gains in security and development, especially the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. However, they pledged to defeat such designs through a ‘whole of the nation approach’.

“The forum reiterated the resolve of the Pakistan Army to play its due role towards defence and security of the motherland. Sacrifices made by resilient people of Pakistan and its brave security forces shall not go waste, Insha’Allah,” the military’s media wing said after a corps commanders’ conference held at the GHQ on Thursday.



The huddle came hours after Pakistan and India established a hotline contact through the directors general of military operations (DGMOs).

ISPR’s Director General Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor said Pakistan’s DGMO strongly rejected Indian concerns over the movement of terrorists along the Line of Control (LoC).  “The Indian army [has been] asked to look inward and share evidence,” he said in a post on microblogging site Twitter.

The corps commanders also said that it was for the government to revive military courts which had ceased to function in January after completing their two-year tenure.



“The forum expressed its confidence in the performance of the military courts.  However, the decision for reinstatement of the military courts rests with the government,” the ISPR said quoting the top commanders.

The conference, presided over by army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, took place in the backdrop of the parliamentary parties’ meeting on the revival of the military courts that had been established in the wake of the Dec 2014 terrorist attack on a military-run school in Peshawar for the speedy trial of hardcore terrorists.

These courts had been set up as a part of the National Action Plan (NAP) against terrorism. Except for the main opposition group, the PPP, all major parties have agreed to re-establish them for another two years.

The ISPR statement came hours after the PPP denied a government claim that an agreement had been reached on the revival of the military courts for two years.



According to the military’s media wing, the corps commanders discussed progress on the NAP and said that ‘through Operation Raddul Fasaad (RuF)’ implementation of NAP needed to be speeded up jointly by respective stakeholders for durable peace and stability.

Operation Raddul Fasaad – launched last month after a string of terror attacks -- was discussed in detail. “The RuF is a comprehensive across-the-board operation against terrorists and terrorism and not against any particular race, sect or group,” General Qamar was quoted as saying.

The commanders also acknowledged participation and support by Pakistan Air Force and Pakistan Navy in the ongoing operations.

They also reviewed the geo-strategic and security environment with special focus on internal security, Pak-Afghan border situation, as well as Indian ceasefire violations along the LoC and the Working Boundary.

The army chief also apprised the participants of his recent visits to the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, which, he said, remained successful in making positive progress.

The commanders hailed performance of the security forces – including police, intelligence agencies and other law enforcement agencies – for effective response to recent terrorist incidents and security arrangements for the Pakistan Super League (PSL) final that was held in Lahore last week.

Gen Qamar also informed the participants about discussion held during the last security conference with government authorities. These discussions included topics like phased fencing of the Pak-Afghan border, repatriation of Afghan refugees, judicial, police, madrassa and educational institutions’ reforms and restarting execution of convicts awarded the death penalty by the military courts.

The military commanders also discussed the ‘Dawn leaks’ issue. However, the ISPR would not provide further insight into the discussions at the GHQ. The meeting also reviewed the Pakistan Army's support in conducting sixth Housing and Population Census 2017.

They said the army shall undertake the task of a population count as a national service.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 10^th, 2017.