Former President General (retd) Pervez Musharraf said on Wednesday that the Pakistan Army was “needlessly being targeted” in order to debilitate Pakistan, reported BBC Urdu.
In an interview to the BBC in Dubai, Musharraf said that currently, it appeared as if “army officials were being targeted” and that conspiracies were being hatched to do so.
He said that the army plays a central role in Pakistan and in order to weaken the country, some elements were trying to weaken the army.
‘Had directed ISI to disband political cells’
Musharraf said that as the chief of army staff back then, he had directed the Inter-Services Intelligence to disband political cells and to stay away from matters of politics.
He said, “I had directed the then chief of ISI General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani that the institution he was heading – the ISI – should not intervene in politics. However, I did not issue him written directives in this regard.”
The former president said that he did not say this as a formal order, but both him and Kayani had thought that the ISI should not intervene in political matters.
“This is the reason why there was no rigging done in 2008 elections and neither any such complaint had surfaced,” said Musharraf.
‘Reopening old cases is in no one’s favour’
Speaking on the Asghar Khan case, Musharraf said that it was only a distraction and was causing a conflict between state institutions. “Any tension between institutions is dangerous for Pakistan.”
He said, “We are getting ourselves into trouble by holding on to issues from the past and that the reopening of a 15-year-old case was in no one’s favour.” Musharraf said that “if you want to go back, then why not question the separation of East Pakistan, assassinations of Ayub Khan and Liaquat Ali Khan?”
Musharraf said that “We should keep our focus on the present and the future.”
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