Faiz denies allegations of conspiracy against govt

Former director general Inter-Services Intelligence Lt Gen (retd) Faiz Hameed on Thursday recorded his statement before a three-member commission formed to identify those who planned, financed, and supported a sit-in at Islamabad’s Faizabad around six years back.

The dharna had brought a little-known religious party, the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), into the national spotlight.
The commission is also tasked with recommending legal action against the planners and executors of the protest which disrupted lives in the twin cities Rawalpindi and Islamabad between Nov 6 and Nov 27, 2017.

Constituted under Section 3 of the Pakistan Commission of Inquiry Act, 2017, the commission is led by Syed Akhtar Ali Shah, a former civil servant, who also served as the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa police chief.

It also comprises Tahir Alam Khan, also a former police officer, and Khushal Khan, an additional secretary at the Ministry of Interior.

The commission is scheduled to conclude its inquiry within two months (Jan 15) after its notification.

The TLP, then led by Allama Khadim Hussain Rizvi, had staged the sit-in in protest against the changes made in the lawmakers’ oath, affirming their belief that the Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) is the last messenger of God.

As a result of the protest, the PML-N government had to sack its law minister Zahid Hamid. The Supreme Court had taken suo motu notice of the sit-in on Nov 21, 2017.

While giving his statement, Faiz answered the questions given by the commission, in which he said that he had negotiated with the TLP on the instructions of the government.

Faiz denied the allegations of conspiracy against the government.