Defence secretary directs services chiefs to take action against officers involved in Faizabad sit-in

In line with the Supreme Court’s order, Defence Secretary Lt Gen (retd) Hamooduz-Zaman Khan has written letters to the three services chiefs to review the role of their officers in the 2017 Faizabad sit-in staged by Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), The News reported citing sources on Thursday.

In the letters to army, air and naval chiefs, the defence secretary directed the services chiefs to take action against the officers involved in the 2017 protest sit-in and send their written statements to the Faizabad inquiry commission, the sources added.

Zaman wrote the letters to fix the responsibility of those officers providing facilities to TLP and the role of different institutions in staging the sit-in, according to the sources.

In November of last year, the caretaker federal government constituted the inquiry commission for the implementation of the Supreme Court’s 2019 Faizabad verdict.

The probe panel was constituted on the orders of the Supreme Court under the chair of retired IGP Akhtar Ali Shah after the apex court rejected the fact-finding committee report constituted by the government.

On November 15, Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa remarked that the commission would be empowered to summon anyone, including former army chiefs, prime ministers, and chief justices.

The inquiry commission is required to submit its report to the top court on January 22.

Last week, former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief Lt Gen (retd) Faiz Hameed recorded his statement before the Faizabad sit-in commission, denying allegations of conspiring against the government, sources told Geo News.

The former spymaster was summoned by the panel — investigating the 2017 sit-in staged by the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) — thrice but he failed to appear before it.

He was then sent a questionnaire by the commission to which he responded and stated that he held negotiations with the TLP on the directions of the government.

According to the sources, the commission had summoned the former army officer on January 2 (Tuesday) but he didn’t appear before the panel.