A ‘narcissist’s’ narrative has become security threat: DG ISPR
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan faces a “growing national security threat” driven by an anti-army narrative deliberately crafted and amplified by external actors in collusion with rhetoric pushed by incarcerated PTI founder Imran Khan, Director General Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry warned on Friday.
In a strongly worded press conference in Rawalpindi, he said the situation had moved far beyond politics and had become a direct challenge to the integrity and security of the state.
Lt Gen Chaudhry said the threat emanated from a “delusional mindset” and a “narcissist” that had transformed personal ego into an anti-state campaign. He warned that attempts to create fissures between the people and their armed forces could not be tolerated, stressing that the Pakistan Army was the nation’s only line of defence and must not be dragged into political battles.
According to him, the narrative being spread, including calls to weaken institutions, target military leadership, undermine remittances, and promote unrest, aligns perfectly with the agendas of hostile foreign intelligence networks, especially in India and Afghanistan.
He underscored that while the Constitution guarantees freedom of expression no law permits political actors to meet a convicted individual and then generate an anti-state narrative from jail. While giving the examples, he said Imran Khan had previously urged actions that threatened economic stability, including discouraging remittances, urging the IMF not to support Pakistan, calling for civil disobedience, not paying electricity bills, and encouraging his followers to target the leadership of the Pakistan Army. These actions, he said, were not political positions but deliberate attempts to weaken the state at a time when Pakistan’s security forces were simultaneously confronting terrorism and hostile regional designs.
He said the agenda being pushed did not appear to originate from Pakistan but from Delhi, where rival networks were waiting for opportunities to weaken the Pakistan Army. He said Indian media, channels linked with RAW, Afghan social media networks acting as facilitators of the khawarij, and foreign troll farms were quickly amplifying the PTI founder’s statements because they aligned with their own hostile objectives. He said the collusion was evident and deliberate.
Lt Gen Chaudhry showed video clips of anti-army posts circulating from Imran’s official account, which he said were made viral by anonymous troll networks, many operating from abroad. He described the PTI founder as a ‘mental patient’ whose posts were immediately picked up by Indian media for hours-long coverage. He said such narratives were designed to create a rift between the armed forces and the public and could not be allowed to continue.
He said the PTI’s governance failures in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were being hidden behind this anti-state narrative, noting that instead of focusing on security and development in a province that has suffered heavily from terrorism, PTI officials were obsessed with attacking the army. He said appeasement of militant networks was never a viable security strategy, asking whether Pakistan’s security should be sublet to Kabul or New Delhi.
He said PTI’s calls for talks with terrorists were rooted in both political and economic interests, alleging a “terror-crime nexus” benefiting from patronage networks. He said militants in KP often targeted law enforcers, FC personnel, and security forces while PTI’s political narrative attempted to shift blame toward the army.
Turning to institutional reforms, Lt Gen Chaudhry announced that the Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) Headquarters has begun functioning, marking one of the most significant defence restructurings in Pakistan’s recent history. He said that the new headquarters, mandated by parliament, will strengthen the jointness, interoperability, and multi-domain readiness of Pakistan’s armed forces. He said modern warfare now spans cyber, space, information, and intelligence domains and requires integrated command structures adopted by more than 70 countries. The establishment of the CDF headquarters, he said, was a “monumental day for national security.”
Responding to questions regarding a ban on the PTI or the imposition of governor’s rule in KP, the DG ISPR said these decisions fall within the domain of the government and parliament. He said the armed forces have no role in such decisions and reiterated that the army remains apolitical. He criticised the PTI leadership for remaining fixated on the Army, instead of focusing on governance, especially in KP.
Concluding his briefing, Lt Gen Chaudhry said the business of lies and deception can no longer be allowed to continue and warned that no political agenda or personality could ever be permitted to rise above the security of Pakistan. He said the Pakistan Army would continue to fulfil its constitutional responsibilities and had taken an oath to defend the state, emphasising that “we are not going anywhere.”
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025