Army commanders have stressed the need for bringing “planners, perpetrators, abettors, and facilitators” of May 9 to justice for the collective good of the country.
“Without swift and transparent dispensation of justice to the culprits and establishing the rule of law, stability in the country will ever remain hostage to the machinations of such elements,” the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement at the conclusion of the 83rd Formation Commanders Conference held at GHQ on Thursday.
Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Syed Asim Munir presided over the conference which was attended by corps commanders, principal staff officers, and all formation commanders of Pakistan Army.
The forum offered prayers and paid tribute to martyrs, including officers and men of the armed forces, law enforcement agencies, and citizens of Pakistan.
Army men briefed the forum on the dynamics of the geo-strategic environment, emerging challenges to national security, and the army’s strategy to counter multi-domain threats. The participants were also briefed on technological innovations to modernise the army and optimise logistic support to field formations, in line with fast-evolving operational environment.
The formation commanders expressed concerns over continued cross-border violations from Afghanistan and “terrorism being orchestrated using Afghan soil,” noting that Pakistan’s adversaries were using Afghanistan to target security forces and civilians here.
They acknowledged the sacrifices of newly merged districts’ (NMDs) people in the war against terrorism and underscored the importance of uplifting the NMDs to defeat terrorism.
The forum also underlined the need for socio-economic development in Balochistan to counter “externally propagated narratives” of exclusion, exploited by foreign-sponsored proxies to lead the province’s youth away from peace and progress.
While reviewing the eastern border situation and the latest round of extra-judicial murders in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, the forum expressed solidarity with the Kashmiri people in their just struggle for the right to self-determination as enshrined in United Nations Security Council resolutions.
The forum showed concern over the treatment of minorities, especially Muslims, in India and noted the “growing fascism” being perpetrated to achieve vested political ends.
They also expressed complete solidarity with Palestinians and condemned serious human rights violations and war crimes being perpetrated in Gaza, supporting the International Court of Justice’s decision to stop Rafah’s operation and all other operations within the Gaza Strip.
The military brass underscored that “politically motivated and vested digital terrorism,” unleashed by conspirators duly abetted by their foreign cohorts, against state institutions, was “clearly meant to try to induce despondency” in Pakistan.
The statement added that such attempts were also aimed at sowing discord among national institutions, especially the armed forces, and the people of Pakistan by “peddling blatant lies, fake news, and propaganda.”
But the nation was cognisant of their “ugly and ulterior motives and surely the designs of these nefarious forces” would be defeated, they added.