NUST rector files defamation case

Says malicious campaign is being run against him

ISLAMABAD:

Lt Gen (retired) Naweed Zaman, the rector of the National University of Science and Technology (NUST) has filed a case of defamation against 20 individuals with the Cyber Crime Wing of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) for ‘mudslinging’ against him.

Lt Gen Zaman said that malafide rumours have been levelled against him for the past three years even though the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) director-general had categorically denied any such allegations back in April 2016. Moreover, a complaint to that effect was lodged with the FIA in 2017 hoping that the culprits will be nabbed sooner or later.

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However, no action was taken and the malicious campaign continued unabated periodically. With the rumours resurfacing recently, Lt Gen Zaman filed a fresh case against 20 individuals, under Section 20 and 37 of the Cyber Crime Act 2016, who were at its forefront. Lt Gen Zaman termed them belonging to a mix of anti-state elements, those with vested agendas, including some activists belonging to a political party.

The list also includes a few who live abroad. He added that this hate campaign was exactly as per the textbook definition of Fifth Generation Warfare, to paint the senior leadership of the armed forces in a bad light by targeting them both individually and collectively.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 10^th, 2020.