Tag: COAS

  • Asad Umar suggests that Asim Munir and Khan should be locked in one room so they can talk

    Asad Umar suggests that Asim Munir and Khan should be locked in one room so they can talk

    Senior leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Asad Umar has suggested that Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir and his party’s chief Imran Khan should have a one-on-one discussion in a room and that room should be locked so they can sort out the matter alone.

    Speaking on Meher Bokhari’s show on ARY News: Khabar, Umar said that an open discussion should take place and whatever reservations they have for each other, should be placed on the table.

    He also noted that it is possible that there are some actors who are trying to create distance between Imran and General Munir.

    When asked about Khan’s recent allegations against General Faisal Naseer, Umar admitted Khan has serious reservations about him, however, he doesn’t have a problem with the establishment.

    It is pertinent to mention that Khan’s repeated criticism of the establishment has created barriers for him to now amend his relations with the institution.

    Last week Khan levelled serious allegations that General Faisal had plotted his assassination attempt. He also alleged that he is behind journalist Arshad Sharif’s murder and Swati’s custodial torture.

  • Nadra confirms data theft of Army Chief’s family

    Nadra confirms data theft of Army Chief’s family

    In a news report published on Sunday in The News, it was stated that the National Database Registration Authority (NADRA) is set to finalise an inquiry identifying those behind a data leak involving the incumbent Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir’s family.

    Journalist Azaz Syed wrote that NADRA has issued a detailed statement confirming the data theft of Army Chief’s family, according to the same news outlet.

    According to the report, “Nadra finalises probe into illegal access to COAS family’s data, dated April 02, 2023, it is to clarify that the subject probe into illegal access to COAS family’s data is a continuation of Nadra’s stringent measures to protect the citizens’ data from unauthorised access, when he sought help from premier security agency upon assumption of charge as chairman Nadra in June 2021.”

    Multiple users of different organisations had accessed General Asim Munir’s data before he was appointed COAS. Other than Nadra, nine institutions, including law enforcement agencies, banks and housing authorities, accessed the COAS’s family data.

    About the ongoing inquiry, COAS’s family data was accessed in absence of Nadra Chairman Tariq Malik, who was on ex-Pakistan leave (on official assignment) in November 2022.

    Last November, illegally-accessed information was reportedly used in an attempt to block the appointment of the current army chief.

    In October 2022, five senior Lieutenant-Generals were contending for the position of Pakistan’s new army chief. During this time, a junior data entry operator at NADRA, Farooq Ahmed, allegedly accessed the data of a female family member of Gen Munir and collected the family’s details and identity card numbers.

    This data was later used in the Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) Integrated Border Management System (IBMS) to track international travel destinations the family had travelled to.

    The prime minister had an investigation launched into the data leak.

    As regards to the ongoing probe into the COAS family’s data, the NADRA chairman ordered the inquiry which is in the closing phase. Culprits, from DGs to the data entry operators, have been identified.

  • ‘Siyaasatdaan khud masaail hal karein’:COAS ‘rejected’ Khan’s request for meeting

    Despite Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders continuous claim that thier Chairperson Imran Khan is not seeking a meeting with Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir, anchorperson Shahzeb Khanzada reported that the former prime minister had indeed sent a message to the army chief.

    Speaking on Geo News programme ‘Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Saath’, the host said that General Asim, in a meeting with the top 10 businessmen of the country, said that PTI chief Imran Khan sent him a message seeking a meeting.

    Khanzada further said that Gen Asim replied that it was not his job as army chief to meet politicians.

    “General Asim asserted that the army would neither interfere in politics nor would play any role in it,” said Khanzada. The army chief maintained that he would not interfere in political matters and the political leadership itself should resolve its issues.

    Speaking in the programme, senior anchorperson Hamid Mir said President Arif Alvi had tried to arrange a meeting between Gen Asim and Imran Khan.

    The army chief told the president that he wants to stay away from politics, Mir added.

  • Imran Khan never requested a meeting with army chief Asim Munir, says Fawad Chaudhry

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Vice President Fawad Chaudhry has said on Tuesday that party chief Imran Khan has never requested Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir to meet him.

    Chaudhry also stated in a tweet that President Dr Arif Alvi has never approached Khan with Asim’s alleged suggestion to have a meeting with Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif. He termed the speculations “baseless”.

    A day earlier, Alvi went to Zaman Park to meet his party chairman, who on Sunday dodged getting arrested by the Islamabad police.

    Fawad’s clarification came after senior journalist Kamran Khan claimed on Twitter on Tuesday afternoon that in a meeting with the business community, COAS himself said that he had sent a message to Khan via President Alvi to meet with PM Sharif, however, Khan refused.

    He also said Imran did desire a meeting with the army chief which the latter did not agree too, saying he was not ready to interfere in the political process.

    On March 3, the PTI chief said that he is ready to hold talks with the COAS for the sake of the country, claiming that the army chief considers Imran his enemy.

  • ‘Institute immediate inquiry against Gen Bajwa’: Khan writes letter to Alvi

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Thursday asked President Arif Alvi to “institute an immediate inquiry” against former Chief of Army Staff (COAS) retired General Qamar Javed Bajwa for violating “his oath of office repeatedly” as the army chief.

    “Some very disturbing information has now come into the public domain whereby it is clear that Gen retd Bajwa as COAS violated his oath of office repeatedly,” Khan stated in a letter written to Alvi.

    PTI leader Shireen Mazari also announced the decision to ask for the inquiry on Twitter, sharing pictures of the said letter.

    Citing Javed Chaudhry’s column, Khan wrote that Gen Bajwa had “admitted to journalist Javed Chaudhry that ‘we’ considered Imran Khan [to be] dangerous to the country if he continued to stay in power”.

    He added that it would be “critical to ascertain” from Gen Bajwa that who did he refer to as “we”. The former premier raised the question, “Who gave him (Gen Bajwa) the power to decide that an elected prime minister (Imran) was supposedly a ‘danger to the country if he continued to stay in power’?”

    The former premier then went on to refer to a YouTube vlog made by political commentator Aftab Iqbal. He said according to Iqbal, “Gen Bajwa told him (Iqbal) in conversation that he had tapes of then-PM Imran Khan’s conversations with him”.

    Khan called it a “serious violation” of the former army chief’s oath as well as of his own fundamental human rights. “The question is why and under what authorisation was Gen Bajwa recording confidential conversations?” he asked.

    “I would also point out that Chapter II of the Constitution describes the mandate of the Armed Forces and specifically refers to Articles 243 and 244. Therefore it is your Constitutional duty as President and as Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces to take immediate action and institute an inquiry so as to establish whether such grave violations of the Constitution and oath of Office under the Constitution have taken place.”

    Imran Khan alleged that Gen (retd) Bajwa violated his oath when he publicly went against the then government’s policy of maintaining neutrality in the Russia-Ukraine war.

    “He did this at an international conference in Islamabad on 2 April 2022 — the Islamabad Security Conference. I would like to point out that the govt policy was arrived at after developing a consensus of all stakeholders including MOFA and retired diplomats who had the relevant experience and were area specialists,” he wrote.

  • President Alvi to discuss ‘game of audio and videos leaks’ with COAS Munir

    President Alvi to discuss ‘game of audio and videos leaks’ with COAS Munir

    President Dr Arif Alvi has said that he had made it a point to discuss the “game of audio and videos leaks” with Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir.

    “I am surprised why this is going on. It should not continue in any sense of morality,” said Dr Alvi during a wide-ranging conversation with journalists, leaders of business community and foreign diplomats at a dinner on Saturday.

    Alvi revealed that former army chief General (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa and his team helped Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan in the Senate and during the elections as well.

    The president that Khan had no thought of sacking Gen (retd) Bajwa, stating, “No, I don’t think so. That was a rumour.”

    The president said that we should let go of the past and forgive people for the mistakes they had committed earlier, so a new beginning could take place.

    “Let’s make a country that we deserve,” the President said. He rued that institutions had not played their role, even the judiciary, pointing out that the courts had given verdicts allowing a dictator to change the constitution. He referred to the Reko Diq case in which Pakistan had to pay a fine of $7 billion.

    “If you criticise the judiciary, it will reduce the efficacy of the entire judiciary. If you criticise the army, it becomes a matter of disrepute and we don’t want that,” the president said. He, however, added that this principle was often stretched and applied to every situation, due to which one could not say anything against them.

    Discussing Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari’s response to India, Dr Alvi remarked that the minister had done the right thing. He said the world and the global order was based on vested interests. “A good reply was given by Bilawal sahib,” he stated.

  • ‘General Faiz made Suleman Shahbaz flee from Pakistan’: Journalist Suhail Waraich

    ‘General Faiz made Suleman Shahbaz flee from Pakistan’: Journalist Suhail Waraich

    Senior journalist Suhail Warraich has claimed that Suleman Shehbaz, son of Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif, was sent out of Pakistan with the help of former Director General of Inter-Services Intelligence (DG-ISI), General Faiz Hameed.

    In a candid conversation with journalist Fahad Shehbaz Khan, Warraich said that the former Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa was a good man, who did not make jail particularly tough for anyone, whether it was former President Asif Ali Zardari or Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo, Nawaz Sharif.

    Warraich further revealed that Gen Bajwa was never in favour of keeping these people in jail for long periods or of giving them pain when they were in prison. “Former PM Imran Khan wanted to give pain to the Opposition when they were in jail; he [Gen Bajwa] couldn’t do much but really helped everyone,” Suhail Warraich said.

    Fahad said that audio recordings of Hamza Shehbaz, Shehbaz Sharif and Nawaz Sharif during National Accountability Bureau (NAB) custody, were sent to General Faiz.

    Warraich elaborated that General Bajwa wanted to maintain his soft image. “He is one COAS who dealt with two governments and survived as well. He did not want anything to happen to Nawaz Sharif while he was in jail and hence he sent him to London.”

    The veteran journalist also confirmed that Shehbaz Sharif and General Bajwa were always on very cordial terms with each other.

  • Gen (r) Bajwa watches Pak vs England Test in Pindi

    Gen (r) Bajwa watches Pak vs England Test in Pindi

    The former Chief of Army Staff (COAS), General (retired) Qamar Javed Bajwa, watched the fourth day of the first Test series between Pakistan and England on Sunday in Rawalpindi.

    The recently retired COAS handed over the military’s command to General Asim Munir earlier this week, marking the end of his six-year extended tenure.

    Having taken a 78-run lead in the runfest, England declared their second innings on 264-7 to set Pakistan an improbable victory target of 343 with four sessions to go.

    Harry Brook (87), Joe Root (73), and Zak Crawley (50) scored half-centuries for the visitors. While, the Shaheens: Naseem Shah, Mohammad Ali, and Zahir Mahmood claimed two wickets each for Pakistan.

    A day earlier, Pakistan skipper Babar Azam became the seventh batsman to smash a century.

    Last week, the Ben Stokes-led England cricket team finally embarked on their historic Test tour of Pakistan for the first time since 2005.

    Twitterati shared pictures of the ex-army chief at the Pindi cricket stadium.

    https://twitter.com/ShahSheraz3/status/1599392299212935168?s=20&t=yS86XL7K0W9eLwsJf33ECg

  • Asad Qaiser says giving extension to Gen (r) Bajwa was ‘mistake’

    Asad Qaiser says giving extension to Gen (r) Bajwa was ‘mistake’

    Former Speaker of the National Assembly, Asad Qaiser, has said that the then-Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government’s decision to extend the tenure of ex-chief of army staff (COAS) retired General Qamar Javed Bajwa in 2019 was “wrong”.

    When asked about background discussions leading to the extension, Qaiser responded: “It was the wrong decision, no matter why or how it was taken.”

    While making a candid admission that they [PTI] “regret the mistake”, Qaiser said, “Everyone [in the party ranks] is realising that it was a mistake to grant him (Bajwa) an extension.

    Gen (r) Bajwa was appointed as the army chief by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif in November 2016. In 2019, then-premier Imran Khan approved an extension in his tenure as COAS for another term — just three months before he was due to retire.

  • Exit stage; Lt General Faiz Hameed’s early retirement approved by PM Shehbaz

    Exit stage; Lt General Faiz Hameed’s early retirement approved by PM Shehbaz

    Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif has approved Bahawalpur Corps Lieutenant General Faiz Hameed’s application seeking early retirement.

    He was in the running for the top slot for army chief and was scheduled to retire in April 2023.

    Earlier, Lt Gen Hameed sent his application to General Headquarters (GHQ), from where it was forwarded to the Prime Minister’s Office for approval via the Ministry of Defence.

    The development comes days after the federal government appointed General Asim Munir as the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) and Gen Sahir Shamshad Mirza as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC).

    Previously, Lt Gen Hameed served as the Director-General (DG) of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) while Imran Khan was the Prime Minister. He had been criticised by former Premier Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz for allegedly playing an unconstitutional role in their convictions and for backing the previous set-up under PTI.

    Just a day after the appointment of Lt Gen Asim Munir as the new army chief of Pakistan, the media had reported that Lt General Hameed was considering an early appointment.