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Updated 27 Jun, 2023 01:56pm

‘Negligence, not mutiny led to Lt-Gen’s sacking’

A day after Pakistan’s military spokesperson announced that multiple high-ranking officers had been sacked and disciplined after the violent protests of May 9, a journalist working for an international publication has claimed that the reason was negligence, not mutiny.

DG ISPR Major General Ahmad Shareef had confirmed that three officers including a lietenant general had been sacked, and 15 including three major generals had been disciplined after the riots.

A report in the New York Times contributed by its Pakistan correspondent Salman Masood claimed on Monday that the three-star rank officer sacked after the protest was indeed the Corps Commander Lahore Lt. General Salman Fayaz Ghani.

Arguably the most visible part of the events of May 9 was the ransacking of the corps commander’s official residence in Lahore. The house was been reduced to ashes and has since become the most visible remnant of the protests. It is now a site of visits from various sections of society, that usually end in condemnations.

The NYT report claims that Lt. Gen Ghani had been ordered to make arrangements for the protection of the house but he ‘appeared instead to allow thousands of protesters inside the military installation after ordering the guards to stand down.’

The report also said that the general had ‘miscalculated’ that the protests would remain peaceful. However, videos on social media from the day had shown him trying to negotiate with protestors inside the house, trying to prevent violence.

While not mentioned in the story, the journalist took to Twitter to say that the military had not found evidence of a coup or of any collusion between officials and protestors.

“The sacked officers were held accountable for their negligence and failure to act in protecting military installations,” he wrote on Twitter.

NYT’s report also quotes unnamed analysts to say that the disciplinary action against officers is the toughest done in decades.

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