LAHORE: Opposition Leader in National Assembly Syed Khursheed Shah says the army’s public relations wing reacted in haste to the statement of Federal Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafiq.

Talking to the media here on Friday, Mr Shah said he saw nothing in the statement of the minister that warranted such a sharp reaction from the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).

“I’ve gone through Saad Rafiq’s statement and found nothing that prompted such a huge response from ISPR director general. The army’s words have a lot of weight and he shouldn’t have reacted that way.”

In a public event in Lahore the other day, Mr Rafiq had said the army chief was standing by democracy but some of his subordinates were creating problems for the government through their ‘pranks’.

ISPR DG Asif Ghafoor reacted to it by terming the statement “extremely irresponsible and unwarranted” and added that “it targets the chain of command. The Pakistan Army is a disciplined institution and the army chief’s orders are followed without question”.

Defending his statement, the minister clarified he had been quoted out of context which created the impression that he had said anything against discipline in the armed forces.

Published in Dawn, December 30th, 2017