Defamation campaign: Jang Group is maligning institutions, says Gen Qureshi

He says if investigations prove allegations against ISI as false, then Hamid Mir and Ansar Abbasi should be prosecuted

LAHORE:

Maj-Gen Rashid Qureshi, the former director general of the ISPR, said on Monday that Jang Group and Geo TV concoct news stories against institutions to seek action against them.

With regard to Jang Group reporter Ansar Abbasi, Qureshi said many of his so-called investigative reports have turned out to be untrue. The latest example of his fabricated stories is the one on alleged power theft at General (retd) Pervez Musharraf’s farmhouse at Chak Shahzad, he added.

He further said that if investigations prove the allegations against the ISI chief to be false, then Hamid Mir and Ansar Abbasi should be taken to court and prosecuted.

He also said that the recent comments of Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid were shocking and hinted at a friction between the government and the military. An impression is being given that the military is incapable of doing anything, he added.

Former president of the Supreme Court Bar Association Asma Jehangir said that the media manipulated the attack on Hamid Mir and damaged the sanctity of state institutions due to inter-media rivalries. She said that based on the accusations of one person it was unethical to repeatedly air the picture of the ISI chief on television like a criminal.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 22^nd, 2014.