Pakistan Army knows how to defend its honour and dignity: DG ISPR

Maj Gen Ghafoor says choice of words in detailed verdict is beyond values of religion, humanity and civilisation

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The Pakistani military on Thursday took strong exceptions to a special court’s detailed judgement in the Musharraf treason case, saying that they “know how to defend the honour and dignity of the institution” but were exercising restraint because for them, “the country comes first”.

“The detailed judgement, especially the choice of words, is beyond the basic values of religion, humanity and civilisation,” the chief military spokesperson, Major General Asif Ghafoor, told an unscheduled media briefing on Thursday – shortly after the special court issued its detailed judgement.

The three-judge bench – comprising Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth, Justice Nazar Akbar and Justice Shahid Karim – convicted former army chief Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf of high treason and sentenced him to death on Tuesday.

In the detailed judgement, the court “directed the law enforcement agencies to apprehend the fugitive/convict to ensure that the punishment is inflicted as per law, and if found dead, his corpse be dragged to the D-Chowk, Islamabad, and be hanged for 3 days”.

The military spokesperson is believed to be referring to this para in the detailed judgement.

Detailed verdict issued in Musharraf high treason case

“The Pakistan Army is not just an institution, it’s a family. We draw strength from our faith after our people. We know how to defend the country and how to defend the honour and dignity of our institution,” said Maj Gen Ghafoor, the director general of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).

“However, for us, the country comes first,” he said while hinting that the military was exercising restraint to frustrate the designs of the enemy who wants to stoke instability and sow chaos by creating an internal strife in the country.

“Insha Allah! We’ll fully defend the honour and dignity of our country and our institution,” he added.

Maj Gen Ghafoor said every serviceman in Pakistan’s armed forces was on oath to lay down his life in the country’s defence. “We have practically done this over the past 20 years by achieving with the help of Pakistani nation what no military in the world could achieve,” he added. He was referring to Pakistan’s long but successful fight against terrorism in which countless servicemen sacrificed their lives.

He revealed that army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa had a detailed meeting with Prime Minister Imran Khan where he has conveyed the sentiments of the armed forces on the special court verdict. The government will inform the public about the decisions taken at the meeting, he added.

Maj Gen Ghafoor reminded the mediapersons that he had repeatedly spoken about the changing nature of war in his previous news briefing. “After fighting conventional and sub-conventional war, today we’re faced with hybrid warfare,” he said.

Read: Detailed verdict issued in Musharraf treason case

“So, we’re fully cognisant of the changing nature and character of war,” he added. “We also fully understand the designs of the enemy, its operatives and facilitators.”

He said the enemy wanted to weaken Pakistan internally and externally. In this context he referred to Wednesday’s statement of the army chief in which he had said that the armed forces had brought stability by failing all inimical forces against Pakistan. “And we shall never let it go away at any cost”.

The army spokesperson said some people were trying to defeat us by pitting us against each other through internal and external provocations. “But this would never happen,” he added. “If we know the threat, then we also have a response in place.”

He said Pakistan had successfully fought off external and internal threats and it was fully prepared to tackle the current situation.

Borrowing from the army chief’s statement at SSG Headquarters on Wednesday, he said Pakistan’s armed forces, its institutions and its people have rendered countless sacrifices to bring about stability in the country.

“We shall not allow reversal of this stability at any cost,” he added. “We’ll not step back. We’ll frustrate the designs of internal and external enemies.”

The military spokesperson appealed to the people of Pakistan to have faith in their armed forces which would never allow chaos in the country at any cost. “At the same time, we’ll defend the honour of the country and our institution by thwarting the designs of the enemy, its operatives and facilitators,” he added.