ISLAMABAD: National University of Science and Technology (Nust) Rector retired Lt Gen Naweed Zaman has registered a defamation case in the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) against 20 people under the cyber crime act for their alleged involvement in “mudslinging”.

In a statement on Sunday, the Nust rector said he had been bearing with the “mudslinging” despite the fact that the director general of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) had categorically denied any such allegations way back in April 2016, and termed these “rumours/malafide”.

He said a complaint had been lodged with the FIA in 2017 hoping that the culprits would be nabbed. However, he regretted that no action was taken and the malicious campaign continued.

Once it surfaced again recently, he said, a fresh case was registered against 20 individuals who were in the forefront, belonging to a mix of “anti-state elements”, those with vested agendas, including some activists belonging to a political party.

The Nust rector termed the campaign against him a part of the fifth generation warfare to put the senior leadership of armed forces in bad light, creating a division between the army and the people.

He expressed the hope that the concerned law enforcement institutions would deal not only with the case but also with all those accounts which were spreading “malicious and hate material” with an iron hand and award them exemplary punishment.

Published in Dawn, August 10th, 2020