Director General of Inter Services Public Relations (DG ISPR) Major General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry on Friday brushed aside the rumours about senior officers of the Pakistan Army resigning as a protest against violent demonstrations and arson of the state institution’s assets.
Talking to a private news channel, the DG ISPR said the army was united under the leadership of the Chief of Army Staff and would remain united despite internal and external propaganda.
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He said the entire military leadership, including the Army Chief, believed in democracy and wholeheartedly supported it.
The Pakistan Army, he said, also dismissed the rumors about the imposition of martial law in the country as “baseless hearsay”. There was no question of imposition of martial law, he asserted.
The army spokesperson’s statement has come at a time when the country is facing extreme polarisation coupled with political, economic and constitutional crises.
Meanwhile, amid speculations about martial law, talks of imposing a state of emergency have once again resurfaced, causing concerns among different sections of society that the government may be considering the option in order to gain control of the situation.
Read more: PTI issues rebuttal to ISPR statement on mayhem in Pakistan
However, before the speculation could go any further, Federal Minister for Information Marriyum Aurangzeb rebutted the news regarding emergency. “The reports circulating in the media regarding the imposition of emergency in the country are baseless,” she said.
“No such decision was taken in the federal cabinet meeting,” the minister said in a statement. She urged the media to verify the facts before airing or publishing any news.
Despite the rebuttal, however, some observers pointed out that the information minister had only stated that “no decision regarding the imposition of emergency was taken in the cabinet meeting” but she did not rule out if the cabinet actually discussed the matter.