Political leaders criticise anti-army remarks by PM's social media team

• Bilawal says notice should be taken of PM's social media team and MNAs' propaganda campaigns for criticising army's neutrality.
• Kundi asks to take notice against PTI's Shauzab for remarks against army and ISI.
• Fawad says social media accounts were promoting "cause of the PML-N".

KARACHI: A number of politicians have demanded Prime Minister Imran Khan and the judiciary take action against the anti-army remarks made by a PTI leader. 

PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said that the PM's social media team and MNAs' propaganda campaigns should be taken notice of as they are criticising the army's neutrality.

"It should be taken notice of, be it through the ISPR or our judiciary. We will not let such propaganda succeed,” he said, adding that it was a struggle for every institution of the country to work within its domain.

The PPP chairman said: "The time has come when the media is talking about a neutral environment, and Imran and his social media team are trying to spread propaganda that institutions are not neutral, be it through provocation or creating a constitutional crisis."

PPP's Secretary Information Faisal Karim Kundi also asked for notice to be taken of remarks made by PTI's Kanwal Shauzab against the army and ISI. “She should avoid acting like [the] Murad Saeed of women,” he said.

PML-N leader Malik Ahmad Khan also strongly criticised PTI’s social media team. Malik said they cannot be allowed to tarnish the image of the army as any threat to the army would pose an existential crisis to the country. 

He asked if a country can survive if the army is not respected, adding that only a strong army is the guarantee for a strong country. He also asked how a country can survive without strongly adhering to the Constitution. The PML-N leader said every Pakistani is ready to sacrifice himself for the development and security of the country.

PML-Q’s Salik Hussain also came down hard against the PTI leader for using strong language against the Pakistan Army and the ISI. In his reaction, Hussain said: "Levelling baseless allegations against the Pakistan Army command and that of the ISI is intolerable. The prime minister must take action to reign in such elements or we know how to handle them."

Federal Minister of Information and Broadcasting of Pakistan Fawad Chaudhry has criticised the social media accounts critical of the Pakistan Army and said they were promoting the "cause of the PML-N." 

He said this is a ploy to create a rift between the prime minister and the army, which can never happen. He said we firmly believe the army is the guarantor of Pakistan’s territorial integrity.