Army chief gave no statement on 18th Amendment: DG ISPR

RAWALPINDI: The Director General of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), Major General Asif Ghafoor on Wednesday said the government should comply with court orders and if it directs to arrest Khadim Rizvi it should be implemented.

In an interview, he maintained that every Pakistani wants timely elections. DG ISPR said the Bajwa Doctrine is only about security. He negated that army chief gave any statement on the 18th Amendment. The DG ISPR pronounced that forming a law or making any amendment rests with the Parliament. The census was held by the present government. The delimitations were carried out by Election Commission and the army has no role in it, added DG ISPR.

Responding to a question, Asif Ghafoor said the army camps were set up in Swat on the demands of the public when the human rights violations were happening there in 2008. Peace has been restored ithe area. Army only arrests suspicious persons and after a thorough interrogation if someone is not found guilty he is released, he said.

He said the conspicuous decrease in terrorism in Balochistan has occurred and the situation has improved a lot in Balochistan as the security agencies are playing an effective role in the restoration of peace in the province.There is no existence of Daesh in Pakistan, he asserted.

Commenting on the Indian Held Kashmir atrocities, he stressed the independence movement in the valley is not terrorism. Asif Ghafoor urged the international community to take notice of the Indian army’s brutalities, urging the Kashmiris should receive their right to self-determination.