The PM's order signed by his Principal Secretary Fawad Hasan Fawad, one of the 12 identified as being in telephonic touch with Cyril Almeida by the enquiry committee - the author of the report published on 6 October 2016 - prompting the ISPR to reject the notification is the first public display of civil-military discord since Qamar Javed Bajwa's appointment as Chief of Army Staff.
"Notification on Dawn Leaks is incomplete and not in line with recommendations by the Inquiry Board. Notification is rejected," tweeted Director General, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) following the 'order' by the PM Office. According to a Business Recorder report published on 24 April, 2017 the enquiry committee headed by former judge Aamir Raza Khan identified the following 12 individuals as being in touch with Cyril Almeida, the author of the report published on 6 October 2016: Defense Minister Khawaja Asif, Governor Sindh Mohammad Zubair, State Minister for Capital Administration and Development Division Tariq Fazal Chaudhry, Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah, the then Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid, Prime Minister Special Assistant on Foreign Affairs Tariq Fatemi, MNAs Danial Aziz and Talal Chaudhry, Prime Minister's daughter, Maryam Nawaz Sharif, Principal Secretary to PM Fawad Hassan Fawad, and Principal Information Officer Rao Tehseen.
The PM's order limits action against Fatemi and Rao Tehseen only and stated that "Allocation of portfolio of Foreign Affairs to Syed Tariq Fatemi, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister, shall be withdrawn.' And "Rao Tehsin Ali, Principal Information Officer (PIO) of the Ministry of Information, shall be proceeded against under the E&D Rules 1973."
The Prime Minister further directed that the role of Daily Dawn/ Mr Zaffar Abbas/ Cyril Almeida in the instant matter shall be referred to All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS) for a necessary disciplinary action to be taken against them, the notice read. "The APNS shall also be asked to develop a Code of Conduct for the print media especially when dealing with issues relating to security of Pakistan and to ensure that stories on issues of national importance and security are published by abiding to basic journalistic and editorial norms," the notice added.
The ISPR tweet on the Dawn Leaks has given rise to intense speculation in the federal capital that the Prime Minister may either revisit the order issued ion his behalf by his Principal Secretary or allow the Ministry of Interior to issue a notification to the satisfaction of the establishment or call fresh elections, analysts told Business Recorder Saturday.
Political parties sharply reacted to the PM House notification. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan immediately took to twitter and said: "Dawn leaks was a deliberate attempt to malign Pakistan Army and the government must make public the complete inquiry report".
PTI central secretary-information Naeem-ul-Haq stated that "it has been proved once again that Nawaz Sharif is a habitual liar. The five-member bench of Supreme Court has unanimously declared Nawaz Sharif a lair." "Nawaz Sharif has once again tried to befool the nation like he did in Model Town massacre and the Panama leaks...such a conspiracy against an institution like the military by no one other than the Prime Minister is shameful," he argued.
Pakistan People's Party (PPP) senior leader Rehman Malik said that his party had already stated that nothing would come out of Dawn leaks inquiry, adding the government quite successfully changed a 'criminal investigation into a departmental inquiry'. He further stated that APNS was requested to take action against the journalist while Rao Tehsin Ali will face an inquiry by his own department and removal of Tariq Fatemi is like a "transfer".
He said that the law should have taken its due course and all those involved in the matter should have been given exemplary punishment. He called upon the Prime Minister to implement the inquiry committee report in letter and sprit.
Awami National Party (ANP) senior leader Senator Shahi Syed said that it is incumbent upon all state institutions to respect each other. "If the inquiry committee has found anyone guilty, he should be punished and innocent people must not be made a scapegoat", he said. Coalition partners of the ruling PML-N gave a cautious response, saying the issue has been further complicated with the quick reaction by the DG ISPR through a tweet.
Senator Mir Kabeer Shahi of the National Party, one of the ruling coalition partners, said it was inappropriate to make a comment without having read the report and urged the government to make the entire report public. "The PM House has just released an order or a notification but the complete report is yet to come. Therefore, it would not be appropriate to say whether the action taken against those involved [Dawn leaks] was enough or not," he said.
According to a press release, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has approved recommendations of the inquiry committee on the Dawn Leaks and decided to remove his special assistant on foreign affairs Tariq Fatemi. A letter issued by the Secretary to Prime Minister Fawad Hasan Fawad stating that Prime Minister having considered the findings of the committee as to its terms of reference, is pleased to approve its recommendations in para 18 of the report and direct further as follows.
The role of Daily Dawn/Zafar Abbas/Cyril Almeida in the instant matter shall be referred to All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS) for necessary disciplinary action to be taken against them. The APNS shall also be asked to develop a Code of Conduct for the print media especially when dealing with issues relating to security of Pakistan and to ensure that stories on issues of national importance and security are published abiding by basic journalistic and editorial norms.
Rao Tehsin Ali, principal information officer of the Ministry of Information shall be proceeded against under the E & DS Rules 1973 on the charges based on findings in the instant report. Allocation of portfolio of Foreign Affairs to Syed Tariq Fatemi, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister, shall be withdrawn. Necessary notification in this regard should be issued forthwith. Further necessary action may be taken accordingly by the ministries concerned and divisions, the letter added.
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