Tag: Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor

  • PM’s spokesperson ‘confuses’ Lt Gen (r) Asim Bajwa with Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor in congratulatory message

    PM’s spokesperson ‘confuses’ Lt Gen (r) Asim Bajwa with Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor in congratulatory message

    Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s spokesperson on trade and investment for the United Kingdom (UK) and Europe, Sahibzada Jahangir, has confused two of the military’s former spokespersons while congratulating one of them over his appointment as the special assistant to PM (SAPM) on information and broadcasting.

    Former Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) director general (DG) Lt Gen (r) Asim Bajwa on Monday replaced Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan as the premier’s media aide while Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Senator Shibli Faraz was appointed as the new federal minister for information.

    With the new appointments being reported, congratulatory messages starting pouring in on Twitter, among which was that of Jahangir, who is also the elder brother of former PTI senior leader Fauzia Kasuri.

    The now-deleted tweet by Jahangir, a screenshot of which is available with The Current, congratulated Asim Bajwa while the picture attached along with the tweet showed the PM’s spokesperson with Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor instead.

    Ghafoor had replaced Bajwa as the ISPR chief in late 2016.

    The congratulatory message has once again been tweeted by Jahangir, but this time without a picture.

    https://twitter.com/ChicoJahangir/status/1254807812317855746

    “Congratulations to Lt.Gen Asim Saleem Bajwa on his desrved appointment as SAPM for Broadcasting & Information. I extend best wishes to him. @ImranKhanPTI @AsimBajwaISPR [sic],” it states.

    Jahangir, who is among PM Imran Khan’s oldest friends, was appointed as the premier’s spokesperson on trade and investment for the UK and Europe on an honorary basis in July 2019.

    PTI leaders say that Jahangir has always played a central role in raising funds for PTI, Shaukat Khanum Hospital and NAMAL University. They say his appointment was an acknowledgment of the loyal workers of PTI who have always stood by Imran.

    According to Jahangir, who had in 2018 refused to take charge as SAPM on foreign investment after criticism over social media, he does not take any salary or privileges while acting on behalf of the PM to take trade and business to Pakistan and generate more interest in investment in the country.

  • REBUTTED: Gen Bajwa, ex-ISPR chief meet Sharif family in London

    A report in The News has rebutted claims regarding Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa and former Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) director general Major General Asif Ghafoor meeting the Sharif family in London, which had earlier led to intense speculations and discussion about the ongoing political situation as well as the future of the same back in Pakistan.

    A few Twitter accounts had claimed that the army chief and Maj Gen Ghafoor were in London, holding important meetings.

    The tweets had spread like wildfire as they also claimed that the military leadership was staying in a hotel on a walking distance from Avenfield Flats — the London residence of former prime minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif and his sons Hasan and Hussain Nawaz.

    The report quoted both official and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) sources as saying that the tweets were factually wrong as neither the COAS nor the former ISPR chief was in London. Both Gen Bajwa and Maj Gen Ghafoor have not been in London for several months, in fact, the latter was in Saudi Arabia to perform Umrah around the time of speculation, it added.

    Sources said that a few serving and retired military officers were in London to take part in a few seminars on security on South Asian by a leading think-tank in London and for a few official meetings, but none of the military leaders, as claimed, were in London.

    The delegation stayed in London for a week and then left for Pakistan on the weekend. A PML-N source termed it unfortunate that social media was used to spread news as if the military leadership was engaged in discussions with Nawaz or his brother and PML-N chief Shehbaz Sharif, both of whom are in London.

    The PML-N source further told the English daily that Nawaz was in London for medical treatment and was not holding any talks with anyone. Shehbaz, on the other hand, has reportedly not held any meeting with anyone on Pakistani politics.

  • Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor, his wife safe in car crash: report

    Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor, his wife safe in car crash: report

    Former Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) director general (DG) Major General Asif Ghafoor has met with an accident on the motorway near Sargodha.

    According to Khaleej Times, both the former military spokesperson and his wife were safe as the car was under the speed limit.

    The same was also tweeted by Oasis Energy Director Usama Qureshi.

    Qureshi went on to say that the accident took place during the wee hours of February 3.

    Maj Gen Babar Iftikhar has replaced Asif Ghafoor as the ISPR chief. Maj Gen Ghafoor has been posted as general officer commanding (GOC) of the military’s 40th Infantry Division in Okara.

  • Afridi, Reema, Humayun Saeed thank former DG ISPR Gen Asif Ghafoor for his services

    Afridi, Reema, Humayun Saeed thank former DG ISPR Gen Asif Ghafoor for his services

    Former DG ISPR, Major General Asif Ghafoor, who was a key figure in the liasons between the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) and the entertainment industry has bid goodbye to his post. He has been transferred to the 40th Infantry Division (Okara), where he will serve as the general officer commanding (GOC). Gen Asif Ghafoor has been replaced by Maj Gen Babar Iftikhar.

    “Thanks to everyone I have remained associated with during the tenure,” Maj Gen Ghafoor wrote on Twitter as news of his transfer broke.

    Following his transfer, members of the film and sports fraternity including Humayun Saeed, Shahid Afridi, Reema and Shaan took to social media to appreciate the officer and his services.

    https://twitter.com/SAfridiOfficial/status/1217872486336847873?s=20

    https://www.instagram.com/p/B7bnPASBS2g/
  • Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor removed as ISPR chief

    Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor removed as ISPR chief

    Major General Asif Ghafoor was on Thursday removed from the position of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) director-general (DG) and replaced by Maj Gen Babar Iftikhar.

    Maj Gen Ghafoor’s services were transferred to the 40th Infantry Division (Okara), where he will serve as the general officer commanding (GOC).

    “Thanks to everyone I have remained associated with during the tenure,” Maj Gen Ghafoor wrote on Twitter from the @OfficialDGISPR handle as news of his transfer broke.

    “My very special thanks to Media all across. Can’t thank enough fellow Pakistanis for their love and support [sic],” he said in his farewell message, while also wishing his successor the best.

    Maj Gen Ghafoor had headed the military’s media wing since December 2016. The announcement of his departure comes after Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Gen Qamar Javed called on Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan.

    WHO IS MAJ GEN IFTIKHAR?

    According to Dawn, Maj Gen Iftikhar was commissioned in 6 Lancers in March 1990. He is a graduate of the Command and Staff College Quetta, National Defence University (NDU) Islamabad and Royal Command and Staff College Jordan. The General Officer carries with him a rich command, staff and instructional experience.

    He has served as Brigade Major in an Armoured Brigade, Brigadier Staff in an Infantry Division in North Waziristan and Chief of Staff in Corps Headquarters. He has commanded an Armoured Brigade and infantry Brigade in North Waziristan (Operation Zarb-i-Azb).

    He also served on the faculty of Pakistan Military Academy (PMA) and NDU Islamabad. He is married with four sons. An avid reader and golfer, Maj Gen Iftikhar was presently commanding an Armoured Division before being appointed as the military spokesperson.

  • Will get back Pakistani Kashmir if parliament wants: Indian army chief

    Will get back Pakistani Kashmir if parliament wants: Indian army chief

    Recently-appointed Indian Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Manoj Mukund Naravane has said that the army would act on “getting back” Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJK) “if the parliament was willing and orders to such effect were received”.

    Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, the army chief was asked if the Pakistan-administered region of the disputed territory could be a part of India as stated by the political leadership. In response to the question, Naravane said that there was a parliamentary resolution stating that the “entire Kashmir was a part of India”, and hence the army would take appropriate action if it received orders to take AJK back.

    “There is a parliamentary resolution that entire region is part of India. If parliament wants it, then it [AJK] also should belong to us. When we get orders to that effect, we’ll take appropriate action,” the Indian army chief said.

    This is not the first time the new Indian general has indulged in provocative posturing. In an earlier statement, Naravane had said that India “reserve[d] the right to preemptively strike at sources of terror”.

    He had told the Press Trust of India that India had “evolved a strategy of resolute punitive response against sponsored terrorism”.

    Pakistan had rejected the statement, calling it “irresponsible”. The Foreign Office had in its statement said Pakistan was fully able to respond to any Indian aggression in AJK and that New Delhi should not forget Islamabad’s befitting response to its aggression in Balakot last year.

    ISPR RESPONDS:

    Meanwhile, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General (DG) Major General Asif Ghafoor has said that Pakistan’s armed forces will give an “even stronger” response than given in February 2019, if India attempts any military action across the Line of Control (LoC).

    Reacting to the Indian army chief’s statement, the ISPR chief said it was a part of routine rhetoric to divert attention from domestic issues in India.

    “Statements by Indian COAS to undertake military action across LOC are routine rhetoric for domestic audiences to get out of ongoing internal turmoil. Pakistan Armed Forces are fully prepared to respond to any act of Indian aggression [sic],” he tweeted.

  • DG ISPR Gen Asif Ghafoor praises Deepika for being ‘a brave person’

    DG ISPR Gen Asif Ghafoor praises Deepika for being ‘a brave person’

    DG ISPR Major General Asif Ghafoor praised #DeepikaPadukone for being a brave person and “standing both with youth and the truth.”

    However, later he deleted his tweet for reasons unknown.

    Deepika won the appreciation of the public after she visited Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) to stand in solidarity with the students who were protesting after masked assailants wielding batons and iron rods attacked the university leaving more than two dozen injured.

    According to an Indian journalist, the masked mob was linked to a BJP linked student group. They barged into hostel rooms and assaulted left-wing students and also beat up visually impaired people. There were reports that they were carrying acid as well.

    Deepika’s presence at the protest signifies that she is most likely standing with them in protest of these BJP-linked attacks and not the tuition fees hike protests that had been happening at the university earlier. The hostel fee hike is an ongoing issue and protests were held against it previously.

    Read more: ‘Mad respect’ for Deepika Padukone after she stands in solidarity with JNU students attacked by BJP supporters

    Previously, in a media interaction when asked about the ongoing protests, Deepika had said that she is proud that the students are not scared of expressing themselves.

    “I feel proud about it that people are coming out – be it on the streets or wherever they are – they are raising their voice and expressing themselves as it is important. If we want to see change in life and society, it is important that a point of view be put forward,” Deepika had said.

    Meanwhile, several other Bollywood personalities including Vishal Bharadwaj, Anurag Kashyap, Zoya Akhtar, Dia Mirza, Rahul Bose, Richa Chadha and Taapsee Pannu led hundreds of people in a peaceful protest against the violence.

  • ‘You messed up,’ Gen Bajwa told US secretary of state: ISPR chief

    ‘You messed up,’ Gen Bajwa told US secretary of state: ISPR chief

    Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Major General Asif Ghafoor has quoted Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa as telling United States (US) Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that White House’s misadventure in Baghdad was detrimental to efforts aimed at regional peace.

    “The region is making progress towards peace from a very bad situation and the Baghdad incident is detrimental to the peace efforts in the region,” the ISPR chief quoted the COAS as telling Pompeo as US-Iran tensions soar following the killing of top Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani and other officials in a US President Donald Trump-ordered drone strike on Friday in Baghdad.

    Speaking to a private media outlet, Maj Gen Ghafoor also said that Pakistan will only play the role of a peacemaker and not take sides in the ongoing conflict between the two countries.

    “Pakistan has defeated terrorism on its territory and will not allow its soil to be used against any other country.”

    According to Geo News, to a question regarding claims made in Indian media that Pakistan’s policy towards Iran has changed in the light of US resumption of military training program for Pakistan Army, the ISPR chief deemed it “Indian propaganda” and “fake news”.

    “Islamabad and Washington were in talks for the last four or five months over the issue and linking it as Pakistan aligning with US is Indian propaganda,” he said. “Pakistan Army is a responsible and professional force and has exercised restraint despite provocative statements from Indian leadership.”

    The military spokesperson also said that Gen Bajwa had an important role to play in regional security and Afghan peace process, and Pakistan didn’t want to see another conflict in the region.

    “Pakistan would oppose any thing that is affecting Afghan reconciliation process as it needs focus from all parties. We are of the view that dialogue is the way forward to achieve lasting peace,” he said.

  • ‘Pakistan has got its act together’: Indian cybersecurity praises DG ISPR Gen Asif Ghafoor

    ‘Pakistan has got its act together’: Indian cybersecurity praises DG ISPR Gen Asif Ghafoor

    India’s cybersecurity chief on Saturday stressed the need for a unified public relations command for the three wings of the armed forces to ensure an upper hand in the narrative warfare with Pakistan, which, he opined, has “got its act together” through its Director General Inter Services Public Relations (DG ISPR) Major General Asif Ghafoor.

    According to a report in India Today, National Cyber Security Coordinator Lieutenant General Rajesh Pant (retd) while speaking at a seminar said the three wings of the armed forces have their own public relations officers and “they are going in different ways”.

    “When are we going to have our own equivalent of the DGISPR,” he is reported to have said, adding, “The (Indian armed forces) services have their own PRs and they are going in different ways.”

    Pant remarked that Pakistan has got “its act together” in narrative warfare because of DG ISPR.

    Elaborating further Pant said, “When they (DGISPR) conduct narrative warfare, let’s say in the case of Kashmir, the message they send to Europe is that human rights are being infringed. When they engage with Islamic nations they tell them that Islam is under threat. And what they told Southeast Asia is that there is a regional instability.”

    “So, they seem to have got their act together,” he concluded.

    Meanwhile, General Asif Ghafoor also took to social media to share his reaction.

  • ‘We’re patient’: Military reacts to detailed verdict in ex-chief’s treason case

    Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General (DG) Major General Asif Ghafoor on Thursday blasted the detailed judgement in the high treason case against former military ruler Gen (r) Pervez Musharraf, stating that the fears of the armed forces had proven true.

    “We direct the Law Enforcement Agencies to strive their level best to apprehend the fugitive/convict [Musharraf] and to ensure that the punishment is inflicted as per law and if found dead, his corpse be dragged to the D-Chowk, Islamabad and hanged for three days,” one of the judges, Justice Waqar Ahmed Seth of the Peshawar High Court (PHC), had stated in the verdict issued earlier in the day.

    Reacting to the verdict, the military spokesperson said that the words used in the written order “transgressed humanity, religion, culture and any other values”.

    “Pakistan Army is a responsible institution and its soldiers have taken an oath to protect the country. For the armed forces, the country comes first, and institutions later,” Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor said as he addressed a short press conference hours after the detailed verdict was issued by the special court trying the ex-army chief for treason.

    “We will not let this stability be reversed under any circumstances,” he said, adding that the military knew how to defend the institution’s integrity, and would foil any attempts by external or internal enemies to destabilise the country.

    “We have been fighting conventional wars, then sub-conventional wars and now, we are facing a hybrid war,” he said. “We know the nature of this war and how to fight it.”

    The DG ISPR said that efforts were being made to weaken Pakistan externally. He said that some elements were trying to destabilise the country by making people fight with one another. “Some people are dreaming that they can defeat Pakistan. This will not happen. If we know about the threat, then our response is also in place.”

    He said that the prime minister (PM) and army chief had spoken in detail over the verdict, and the government would soon inform the nation about the decisions taken by the two.

    “The armed forces are not an institution, but are like a family,” Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor said.

    REFERENCE AGAINST SETH:

    Meanwhile, Attorney General of Pakistan (AGP) Anwar Mansoor Khan has strongly condemned the detailed verdict of the special court and said that the government would take action against the judge who proposed public hanging.

    Terming the judgement as “illegal, unconstitutional and immoral”, he said that an action would be taken against the judges concerned under Article 209 of the constitution.

    “I will take steps for declaring the verdict null and void after returning from Istanbul. This matter will be sent to the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) of Pakistan for holding an inquiry against the judge,” the AGP said while talking to ARY News.

    He added that the verdict was seemingly given on the basis of personal enmity and a legal plea would be filed to nullify the verdict in accordance with the law. “It [the verdict] has damaged the reputation of the armed forces as it is an apparent attack against the institution.”

    “A person must not be allowed to continue to perform their duties as a judge when they are mentally ill. This position is not for a person who gives verdicts against the constitution, law and the religion,” he maintained.

    READ DETAILED VERDICT: