Army urges action over baseless allegations following Arshad Sharif's murder

Wants probe into circumstances leading to Kenya killing

ISLAMABAD:

The General Headquarters (GHQ) of the Pakistan Army wrote to the government to form an inquiry commission for investigation into the death of journalist Arshad Sharif in Kenya, a military statement said on Tuesday.

The statement came soon after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced his decision to form a judicial commission to conduct a “transparent investigation” into the death of Sharif.

The chief military spokesperson told media that the military had also requested the government to set up a high-level commission to investigate Sharif’s killing and take legal action against those hurling allegations without any proof.

The renowned journalist was shot dead by police at a roadblock on Sunday in Kenya. Sharif had fled the country in August, complaining harassment. It is still being discussed how he ended up in Kenya.

Maj-Gen Babar Iftikhar, the director general of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) appeared on a private news channel, stating that the army had written a letter to the government, requesting a high-level probe into the killing.

The military spokesperson, while condoling over Sharif’s death, said that it was unfortunate that people start levelling allegations. He called for a high-level inquiry so that all speculations could be put to rest.

The DG ISPR said that a thorough probe should be conducted not just about the killing but where did he live all this time; what were the circumstances leading to this incident; and why Sharif had to leave Pakistan in the first place.

Gen Iftikhar regretted that institutions were repeatedly blamed with one excuse or the other, adding that those hurling allegations had no evidence to back their claim and that legal action should be taken against them.

While calling Sharif a “very professional man” and describing his programmes as “textbook journalism”, Iftikhar said that it was upsetting that his death was being used for baseless conversations and fingers were being raised on it.

“We just have to see who is using this unfortunate incident…who is the beneficiary of this thing…this needs to come to an end,” the chief military spokesperson added.

Gen Iftikhar said that the military has also requested the government to take legal action against all those levelling baseless allegations.

When contacted, Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb said that the ISPR’s announcement was in line with the prime minister’s announcement, clarifying that Shehbaz hadn’t constituted the judicial commission on army’s request but announced it on his own.

“PM has already announced [about judicial commission] in the morning and issued official video,” Aurangzeb told The Express Tribune, “What the ISPR later said was in line with what the prime minister had already announced.”

(With Input from APP)