Former Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) chairman Absar Alam has accused former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief Lt General (retired) Faiz Hameed of controlling the media during 2017 Faizabad Dharna. Alam has also accused General (retd) Hameed of pressuring him to take action against prominent journalist Najam Sethi and Pakistan's former ambassador to the United States Hussain Haqqani.
"PEMRA officials were under pressure from serving officers, and the Applicant-in-Person received calls from the then DG(C) Major General Faiz Hameed and/or his subordinates complaining that their requests were not acceded to by the Applicant-in-Person (Alam)," Alam stated in the affidavit he submitted to the apex court on Tuesday. He also submitted a written reply in the Faizabad Dharna case.
Alam went on to list all the actions for which he was pressured by specific quarters:
- to take action against Najam Sethi, a prominent senior journalist; and,
- to completely blackout Hussain Haqqani from television channels, however, both illegal/unlawful demands remained unmet.
"General Hameed and/or his subordinates controlled television channel policy through illegal/unlawful means by changing their numbers and moving them at the tail end when they refused to follow instructions. The higher the channel number, the better the visibility and access due to various technological and social reasons," Alam explained in his statement.
This is the first time that Gen Hameed has been accused by name of playing a role in the Faizabad Dharna case. This is also the first case where he has been named before the top court in any case.
Alam's reply came after multiple pleas were filed in the apex court calling to review the verdict on the 2017 Faizabad protest staged by the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) against the then-Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government demanding action against ministers for alleged 'secular' changes to oaths.
The review petitions were filed by the Ministry of Defence, PEMRA, Intelligence Bureau (IB), Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), Awami Muslim League (AML) chief Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed, PML-Z chief Ijazul Haq and others.
The Faizabad Dharna case is currently in the implementation phase, and a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, the author of the main judgement, is hearing the case. The bench is expected to take up the matter on Wednesday.
The top court had directed all the parties to submit their replies by October 27.
It is pertinent to mention here that the Attorney General for Pakistan has already informed the top court that an inquiry is being conducted against military officials allegedly supporting the Faizabad Dharna.
The Ministry of Defence will likely inform the top court on Wednesday about the progress made in their inquiry.
"In April 2017, the situation became untenable and necessitated that the Applicant-in-Person: i) address in writing the then prime minister Nawaz Sharif, chief justice Mian Saqib Nisar and chief of army staff General (retired) Qamar Javed Bajwa, attached herewith, to inform that due to grave threats by unknown persons to PEMRA officials for not following instructions fear had paralysed the latter, ii) by way of press conference make public a recorded telephonic conversation, transcript attached herewith, of a serving agency officer threatening a PEMRA official so as to guarantee and safeguard the life and limb of said and all PEMRA official/s, and iii) publically disclose how unsafe it had become for PEMRA officials to perform their functions in accordance with law and how a state agency, illegally/unlawfully, created hurdles in smooth functioning of PEMRA."
He further stated that there was a discernible pattern of interference in the affairs and functioning of PEMRA. He said that this created an unnecessary tussle which wasted the energies and scarce state resources in a battle imposed in a patently unconstitutional and illegal manner - at the behest of individual serving agency officer/s.
"As such, only through constant vigilance was PEMRA able to counter some such illegal/unlawful and threatening moves, protect by public disclosure the life and limb of its employees and yet perform its functions, albeit in a limited manner."