Former ISI chief submitted response to high-level body probing Faizabad sit-in

Pakistan’s former spy chief Lt-Gen Faiz Hameed has submitted a written response to the inquiry commission probing the infamous sit-in by a radical Islamic group in November 2017 that paralysed the capital city for about three weeks.

The sit-in was led by Tehreek-i-Labiak Pakistan (TLP) group activists under cleric Khadim Hussain Rizvi. The protestors were upset due to some changes in the oath of elected representatives which they alleged violated the Islamic concept of finality.

On the other hand, former prime minister Shehbaz Sharif has requested the commission to send him a questionnaire so that he could come before it with preparation.

The questionnaire has already been sent to Sharif, who was the chief minister of Punjab when the TLP staged the sit-in in November 2017, media reports said.

The former ISI chief, Sharif, and the then defence minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif had been summoned by the three-member inquiry commission which was constituted by the federal government in line with the Supreme Court’s directive in November last year.

The former ISI DG was summoned by the commission through the Ministry of Defence. However, the commission members were later informed that Gen Hameed could not personally appear before them due to security concerns, the Dawn newspaper reported.

The commission members then decided to send him a questionnaire.

The sources said Khawaja Asif had tendered an apology to the commission, stating that he could not appear before it due to some health issues.

Additional Inspector General of Police Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) Peshawar Wisal Fakhar Sultan Raja, who was the Regional Police Officer Rawalpindi, at the time of the sit-in, appeared before the commission and recorded his statement.

The sources said Sharif was likely to be questioned about the role of his office during the TLP’s long march towards Islamabad, including any efforts made to intercept them and orders issued by his office, the report added.

Following the completion of the probe, the commission will submit its inquiry report on January 22.

In November last year, the caretaker federal government constituted the inquiry commission for the implementation of the top court’s 2019 Faizabad verdict.

The ISI is considered highly powerful and influential in the country and its retired officials are seldom subjected to probe or any kind of scrutiny. The sit-in at the Faizabad interchange linking the capital Islamabad to Rawalpindi had cut off the two cities for about three weeks, causing massive hardships for the people. The Supreme Court in a 2019 judgment had pulled up the security institutions for failure to stop the protestors and also ordered a probe to fix the responsibility for the failure.

Source: PTI