ISLAMABAD Defense Secretary Lt Gen (retd) Hamooduz-Zaman Khan has written letters to the heads of the three services to assess the participation of their officers in the 2017 Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP)-staged sit-in at Faizabad, following the Supreme Court’s ruling, The News reported on Thursday, citing sources.
According to the sources, the defence secretary instructed the chiefs of the army, air force, and navy to take action against the officers who participated in the 2017 protest sit-in and to submit their written testimonies to the Faizabad inquiry commission.
According to the sources, Zaman wrote the letters to clarify the roles played by various institutions in organizing the sit-in as well as the accountability of the officers giving facilities to TLP.
The investigation committee was established by the interim federal government in November of last year to oversee the execution of the 2019 Faizabad ruling by the Supreme Court.
The investigative panel, led by retired IGP Akhtar Ali Shah, was established by the Supreme Court on its own initiative following the court’s rejection of the government-appointed fact-finding committee report.
Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa stated on November 15 that the commission would have the authority to call in anyone, including prime ministers, chief justices, and past army chiefs.
On January 22, the inquiry commission must provide its report to the highest court.
According to sources who spoke with Geo News, last week, former head of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Lt Gen (retd) Faiz Hameed recorded his statement before the Faizabad sit-in panel, refuting claims that he was plotting against the government.
The panel, which was looking into the 2017 Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) sit-in, summoned the former spymaster three times, but he never showed up.
The commission subsequently gave him a questionnaire, to which he replied and said he had discussions with the TLP regarding the government’s directives.
The sources claim that although the former army officer was summoned by the commission on Tuesday, January 2, he failed to show up for the panel.
