Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah revealed that former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief retired Lt-Gen Faiz Hamid is being looked into by Pakistan’s investigative agencies for alleged corruption, according to Dawn.
On March 8, while addressing the press conference, the Interior Minister said that the investigation is underway against the ex-ISI boss and his brother over alleged corruption. Meanwhile, Pakistan Muslim League-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz Sharif called for the retired general’s court-martial.
In a separate interview with Pakistan’s digital news outlet, Maryam Nawaz Sharif demanded strong action against the former ISI DG for his role in getting her and her father convicted in NAB corruption references in 2017, according to Dawn.
Unlike her arch-rival Imran Khan, who is demanding the court martial of the previous army chief, Sharif stopped short of seeking any major punitive action against retired Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa, saying that as of now, she wanted to make an example of Gen Hamid.
“I had spoken against Gen Hamid in court when he was the sitting ISI chief for his alleged involvement in getting me and Nawaz Sharif punished. I had evidence against him,” she said, referring to former Islamabad High Court judge Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui’s claims that the spy agency tried to prevail on him to issue a verdict of their liking.
Reacting to PML-N Vice President’s demand, Sanaullah said in Wednesday’s press conference that this was a matter for GHQ to decide.
“Politicians make demands and express their viewpoint,” he said, explaining that a court martial of a former military officer does not fall within the jurisdiction of civil authorities, as per the Dawn report.
After getting the blow of allegations that are being levelled against him, Gen Hamid broke the silence and told a journalist that it is the army chief who calls the shots in the military.
In a tweet, senior journalist Kamran Khan of Pakistan reported that the former ISI chief had reached out to him and provided a response to the allegations being levelled by Ms Sharif.
سابق ISI سربراہ Lt Gen Faiz نے مریم نواز کی جانب سے ان پر لگے الزامات کے جواب میں مجھے بھیجے گئے messages میں یا دہانی کروائی 1) 2017-18 میں صرف میجر جنرل تھا کیا فوجی ڈسپلن میں تنہا میجر جنرل حکومت ختم کرسکتا تھا؟ 2)فوج میں فیصلہ صرف چیف کا ہوتا ہے 3) تمام فیصلے عدالتوں نے کئے pic.twitter.com/JHnYzkYyYc
— Kamran Khan (@AajKamranKhan) March 8, 2023
Pakistan’s Senior journalist Kamran Khan claimed in a tweet that the former ISI chief had reached out to him and provided a response to the allegations being levelled by Ms Sharif.
Gen Hamid argued that in 2017-18, he was simply a major general in the army and asked whether, under military discipline, a lone officer could topple the Government, according to Dawn.
He was also quoted by Khan as saying that it is the chief of army staff who has the final say and that all the major decisions — seemingly a reference to Nawaz Sharif’s disqualification and subsequent imprisonment — were taken by the courts.
