Pakistan’s information minister Pervaiz Rashid
Pakistan’s information minister Pervaiz Rashid was on Saturday removed from his position as a fallout of a report in the Dawn newspaper on a rift between the civil and military leadership on tackling terrorism in the country.
Sources in Islamabad said the information portfolio had been taken away from Rashid, a senior leader of the ruling PML-N perceived as being close to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
The sources added that the premier had accepted Rashid’s resignation. The Dunya News channel reported that it was believed Rashid had leaked the news of the purported rift between the civil and military leadership to Cyril Almeida, a senior journalist of the influential Dawn newspaper.
The Pakistani media also reported on Saturday that defense minister Khawaja Asif, another senior leader of the PML-N, had left for Dubai with his family. However, the reason behind his trip could not immediately be ascertained.
News channels quoted their sources as saying that Rashid resigned after the Prime Minister asked him to step down. Reports said the action followed a preliminary inquiry by interior minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan. Sources also said Sharif had ordered a formal inquiry to establish whether Rashid was involved in leaking information to the Dawn.
Rashid’s ouster capped several weeks of fast-paced developments after the Dawn reported on October 6 that foreign secretary Aizaz Chaudhry had warned a meeting of top civilian and military leaders that Pakistan faced growing international isolation if it failed to act against terrorist groups.
The report “Act against militants or face international isolation, civilians tell military”, created a storm in Pakistani political circles even though it was denied by the PML-N government. The government ordered a probe as it came under mounting pressure from the powerful military.
While the Prime Minister’s Office denied the story, the army contended details of the crucial meeting between civilian and military leaders had been “leaked” and demanded a probe as it believed the leak amounted to a breach of national security.
Almeida was briefly barred from traveling out of Pakistan. The Dawn stood by Almeida and his reports, with its editor Zaffar Abbas saying the story “was verified, cross-checked and fact-checked”.