Director-General Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Lt. Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhary addressed a media briefing on Friday, terming the “delusional and narcissistic” mindset of incarcerated PTI founder Imran Khan a threat to national security.

DG ISPR said that the Pakistan Armed Forces will stand firm and resolute against all internal and external threats.

“That threat emanates from a delusional mindset of a delusional person who has become captive to his own ego, thinking that his wishes are bigger than those of the state of Pakistan,” Lt Gen Chaudhry said, in an apparent reference to incarcerated PTI founder, Imran Khan.

“His ego, his wishes, and frustrations have grown to such an extent that he thinks that the world would cease to exist without him.”

He added that such behaviour had created dangerous distortions in national discourse and encouraged divisive politics.

“These businesses related to false narratives will no longer stand.”

He criticised Imran Khan and PTI’s “comical obsession” with the army. He said that Imran Khan and his supporters blame the army for diverting attention of the public from their own incompetence and corruption in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa — the province where they have been ruling for over a decade.

“You can fool some people for some time; you can fool all the people for some time; however, you cannot fool all the people all the time.”

He said that Imran Khan was responsible for creating a gap between the people of Pakistan and the Armed Forces.

He said that Imran Khan’s whole politics is centred around his obsession with matters related to the military.

DG ISPR said that the “mental patient” shared the same agenda as the Indian media.

Indian media had been broadcasting his narrative with unusual enthusiasm, while Afghan-based social media networks and facilitators of militant groups were helping amplify it, he added.

“Within minutes, this narrative reaches international media.”

Anti-state conduct

Lt Gen Chaudhary said that the PTI founder had repeatedly encouraged actions that undermined the state, including calls for civil disobedience, refusal to pay bills, agitation against military leadership, and attempts to provoke attacks on institutions.

He said that the PTI founder is glorifying figures like Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and promoting narratives harmful to Pakistan’s unity.

He also recalled incidents of May 9, saying the attacks on military installations, including relics of the 1965 war, the Chagai memorial, and martyrs’ monuments, were driven by the same hostile mindset.

Role of the Army and state decisions

Clarifying the institutional role of the military, the DG ISPR said, “It is a misunderstanding that the Army is the state. The Army is not the state; the government is. The state is the mother and the father — greater than all.”

He stressed that the Armed Forces represent Pakistan as a whole, not linguistic or political identities, and that attempts to drive a wedge between the people and the military would not be tolerated.

“We will not allow anyone to inflame the public against the army,” he added.

“Army does not run on the ‘clerk and babu’ system, our officers and soldiers stand like two fingers, we collectively lift bodies and hold funerals.”

Counter-terrorism and governance concerns

Lt Gen Chaudhary said the Armed Forces had conducted 13,270 counter-terrorism operations over the past decade, killing 1,943 terrorists.

He warned against downplaying the threat, saying that some voices had previously argued for opening offices for militants in Peshawar and negotiating with violent extremists.

He questioned governance in KP under PTI’s long rule, asking what improvements had been made in policing, education, and public welfare.

No comment on governor’s rule

Responding to a question about the imposition of governor’s rule, officials said the decision rests solely with the government.

“The Army only gives its opinion; the decisions are made by the government,” they said.

Reaffirming the military’s commitment to national security, Lt Gen Chaudhary said, “We have sworn an oath to defend the state. No one is more important than Pakistan.”