Armed forces must not be inclined to any political entity, warns Maryam Nawaz

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) vice President Maryam Nawaz has advised the director-general of the army's media wing to be cautious of standing behind a political party as such precedents should not be set which results into a division between institutions and public.

"The DG ISPR is a professional soldier and the spokesperson for the institution, he should be very careful," she said while addressing the PML-N's Sher Jawan Movement opening ceremony on Sunday, as quoted by Dawn.

"Imran Khan and the government benefit if they drag institutions in politics; it suits them. But it does not suit the armed forces and other institutions to appear [as if] they are standing behind a political party... This discrimination should not be there, they (institutions) are as much ours as theirs (government). Such precedents should not be set as it increases the divide between institutions and the public," she added.

According to Dawn, the former prime minister's daughter urged her supporters to stand with her father Nawaz Sharif in their "struggle to get respect for the [public's] vote" and further slammed the retired Lt Gen Asim Saleem Bajwa, saying that the people of Pakistan want to "know how you, a salaried man, started businesses across the world".

Maryam also urged party workers to "not to malign the uniform" and instead "expose the characters who defame" the armed forces.

The PML-N vice president also spoke about the abduction and detention of Sindh inspector general of police, saying he was "kept in isolation for refusing to arrest retired Captain Mohammad Safdar".

In October, the party vice president's husband retired Captain Safdar was arrested from his hotel room in Karachi for "violating the sanctity of Quaid's mausoleum" and was released on bail the same day.

One day after Safdar's arrest and subsequent release, police personnel across the Sindh province applied for leave in order to "come out of [...] shock" caused by the "episode of registration of FIR against Capt (R) Safdar".

Supremo Nawaz Sharif said that the events that unfolded in Karachi were "clear proof of our narrative that there is 'a state above the state'".

Without naming anyone, he added, "You made a mockery of the elected provincial government's powers" and "brought a bad name to the Pakistan Army."

(ANI)

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