PRESIDENT Asif Ali Zardari Wednesday expressed grave concern over the baseless and unsubstantiated allegations levelled by a specific political party and some of its leaders against the army and its leadership for narrow political interests and resolved to deal with such disruptive elements with an iron hand. Talking to Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Syed Asim Munir, he lauded the exemplary role and contribution of the defence forces towards safeguarding the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the state.
It is highly deplorable that the tendency of political point scoring continues unabated at the cost of reputation and prestige of the national institutions. This is despite the fact that the sober voices have long been raising concerns that such a trend amounts to making attempts to undermine the strength of the institutions. The baseless propaganda is also aimed at shattering confidence of the people in national institutions for the sake of petty political interests. The concerns raised by President Asif Ali Zardari are important as he is commander-in-chief of the defence forces but his position also demands initiation of concrete measures to discourage this tendency and counter the baseless propaganda. The President has rightly pointed out that the defence forces are rendering invaluable services for the cause of national defence and security. Some vested local interests and some foreign countries are directly or indirectly involved in fanning terrorism and extremism in Pakistan with the clear objective of scuttling the march of the country on the road to progress and prosperity. Our valiant forces are waging a continuous struggle to safeguard core national interests and they surely deserve full backing and support of all segments of the society for this onerous task. Those targeting the Pakistan Army are not serving the cause of the country and that is why they are gradually losing support of the masses, which are fully appreciative of the role being played by the Army to create a conducive environment for progress and growth. Apart from the Pakistan Army, the Supreme Court and the Election Commission of Pakistan are also being targeted through social media, prompting the Government to impose curbs on social media, the responsibility for which squarely falls on those behind the spurious propaganda.
