Journalist Asad Ali Toor made this revelation in his latest vlog, where he reiterated his previous report from March 2023 in which he said Lt Gen (retd) Faiz Hameed could potentially be arrested soon.
As he clarified his earlier scoop, Toor said that after his assertion about a decision being made to arrest Lt Gen (retd) Faiz, a news story came to the fore regarding a complaint being filed in the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) pertaining to the retired Pakistan Army general's corruption and accumulation of assets beyond means.
Toor says that former prime minister Imran Khan's claims of not being responsible for the May 9 fiasco are not plausible. "It would be believable if the mob 'went out of control' just in Lahore, but mobs went out of control in Gujranwala cantonment, at Multan cantonment, at ISI offices in Faisalabad and Rawalpindi, even at the GHQ," Toor postulates as he lists the major targets attacked on May 9, before asking "why did the mobs only target the cantonment areas? Why did PTI workers only target military installations?"
"It means that, at some level, Imran Khan had conveyed his directions that if anything happened to him, his followers should target military facilities in every city," Toor purports. "It also means the mob was led to these places in all the different cities," Toor says, adding that "the PTI also had some assurances from the inside, that if they attack military sites and corps commanders' residences and the GHQ, it would cause so much chaos that the army would itself remove General Asim Munir – the incumbent Chief of Army Staff (COAS) who was abroad on an official trip at the time – in an internal coup".
Toor then clarifies that, "there was definitely an assurance of that sort given to PTI from within the army, and according to sources, it was most likely Lt Gen (retd) Faiz Hameed who secured this assurance for them".
According to media reports, a team "specially trained" by the former ISI chief was on the ground alongside PTI workers committing arson and vandalism in multiple locations across the country on May 9. While these arsonists and saboteurs are already in custody, no formal charges have been filed publicly against any senior Pakistan Army officer so far. It is speculated that close to 200 Pakistan Army personnel – commissioned officers and non-commissioned officials, both serving and retired – are currently facing court martial inquiries because of their suspected role in the May 9 riots.
Along with Lt Gen (retd) Faiz Hameed, it is being widely rumoured that former Lahore corps commander Lt Gen Salman Ghani is also under inquiry for his failure to protect and defend Jinnah House, his official residence as Pakistan Army's top military commander in Lahore, a city that borders Pakistan's archrival India to the east.
It had been reported in April that Lt Gen (retd) Faiz was distancing himself from Imran Khan and the PTI in order to "seek forgiveness" from his parent institution, the Pakistan Army. However, it now seems that all attempts by the former ISI chief to "mend fences" with the miltablishment – which he himself was a part of until late last year – have been rendered futile.
Toor went on to claim that ever since the May 9 plan to incite a mutiny within the Pakistan Army failed, and Imran Khan's strategy to remove Gen Asim Munir turned out to be nothing more than a miscalculation, it has since transpired that Lt Gen (retd) Faiz Hameed was a crucial participant in the planning and execution of that fatal miscalculation.
"What has changed before and after May 9," Toor asks as he refers to dwindling social media support for Khan and PTI, and politicians leaving him in droves after May 9. "Something has definitely changed since then," Toor insinuates in reference to the 'hidden hands' within the fractured Pakistani deep state who kept PTI intact and relevant between April 2022 and May 2023.
"Sources say that Lt Gen (retd) Faiz Hameed has been intimated by the top brass that he cannot leave his residence in Chakwal, he cannot freely meet or communicate with people, and he should sit at home until such time that the army's high command takes a decision in his matter," Toor revealed.
Toor speculates that if the decision is made to court martial the former ISI chief, then he will be "picked up from his residence in Chakwal and handed over to JAG Branch", but if he is not found guilty then he will be free to do as he pleases.
"Lt Gen (retd) Faiz Hameed is sequestered in his home, he cannot meet anyone nor can anyone come to meet him, and he cannot attend any weddings or funerals, till further orders from army chief General Asim Munir," Asad Toor concludes.