No action under consideration against Gen Bajwa, claims a source

ISLAMABAD: No action is under consideration against former army chief General (R) Qamar Javed Bajwa, claimed an informed source.

The source dismissed the speculation on the social media about possible action against the former COAS. The ISPR, however, gave no response when approached by The News on the issue.

Referring to the social media speculation on the issue, the source said that all such speculations are baseless. The source added that a social media post, which is under circulation on WhatsApp as “intelligence report” and talks about possible action against Gen (R) Bajwa the way Gen Faiz has been proceeded against, is totally fake. It was speculated that against the backdrop of Gen Faiz’s arrest, additional security has been deployed around the residence of Gen (R) Bajwa in anticipation of his potential FGCM in the future. It was also claimed that Gen (R) Bajwa has quietly accepted the increased security without comment.

According to the source, this is totally untrue. It was also learnt from another source that Gen (R) Bajwa was in Dubai and will be back in the next few days.

It is said that the “fake” post has been shared on the social media by a retired military officer, who is settled abroad and is known for his anti-army campaigns and has already been handed 14-year jail sentence by Field General Court Martial for inciting sedition.

He was convicted and sentenced under the Pakistan Army Act, 1952 for charges of inciting sedition among army personnel from discharge of duties and violation of the provisions of Official Secrets Act, 1923 related to espionage and acts prejudicial to the safety and interest of the state.

A few days back, the military authorities arrested former DG ISI Lt Gen (R) Faiz Hameed. Besides facing charges of corruption relating to a housing society in Islamabad, Lt Gen (R) Faiz is also facing Field General Court Martial because of what the ISPR called multiple instances of violation of Pakistan Army Act post-retirement, which have also been established.

Interestingly, PTI founder chairman Imran Khan and Shehbaz government’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif are on one page in targeting Gen (R) Bajwa and demanding his accountability.

It is not clear whether the defence minister is doing this on his own or has been tasked by the government or PMLN leadership to target Bajwa in order to bring pressure on the incumbent army chief to proceed against his predecessor.

Speaker Punjab Assembly Malik Ahmed Khan, however, contradicted Khawaja Asif’s statement about Gen (R) Bajwa.