Talk about extension in tenure of COAS akin to weakening Zarb-e-Azb: Rashid

ISLAMABAD: Information Minister Senator Pervaiz Rashid Tuesday said any talk about an extension in tenure of the Army Chief General Raheel Sharif amounts to undermining operation Zarb-e-Azb.

Talking to media here he said, “There is still time for the army chief to complete his tenure, and it is not appropriate to talk on this issue.”

The minister said Pakistan would inform the world about the barbarity and atrocities of India in Occupied Kashmir.

“We are bringing before the world the human rights violations in Indian Occupied Kashmir.”

He said Pakistan would continue to make progress under the leadership of Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif.

The minister said Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) was not using official resources in the Azad and Jammu Kashmir (AJK) elections while the Pakistan People’s Party had used official resources of AJK in 2011 polls.

“We go to the AJK as the representatives of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz,” he added.

Pervaiz Rashid said the work done by late Agha Nasir including dramas was a beacon for the media and had assumed the status of an academy.

The parameters adopted by Pakistan Television were reflective of the society he added.

Earlier, The News reported that General Raheel Sharif has been firm, right from the beginning of his tenure as the army chief, on not getting an extension in service on the grounds that it compromises good governance.

A federal minister confided to The News’ correspondent that in a private gathering during the first year of his tenure, General Raheel said that even otherwise, being a member of a family which is the recipient of two the most prestigious military awards of Nishan-e-Haider, he would never want to be an army chief on an extension.

This was the spontaneous response of General Raheel to a question hurled in a private meeting of his well-wishers held within eight months of his assuming charge as Chief of Army Staff.

General Raheel became Army Chief on Nov 29, 2013, and is now scheduled to retire on November 30 this year after completing three years in office.

The high point in his tenure was the start of operation Zarb-e-Azb in North Waziristan against the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan in June 2014, something from which his predecessor shied away fearing blowback. The operation is now in its last stages. He is also credited for action against militancy in Karachi and partially restoring calm in the city.

Defence observers believe that General Raheel’s decision would boost the morale of his ranks. They also do not agree that he would be a lame duck chief during the remaining part of his tenure.