Islamabad: Pakistan police on Friday registered a case against lawyer Imaan Haazir-Mazari and the daughter of former human rights minister Shireen Mazari for making “abusive and derogatory remarks” against the Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa.
A First Information Report (FIR) was registered against her at Islamabad’s Ramna police station under Section 505 (hate speech) and Section 138 of the Pakistan Penal Code on the application of Syed Humayun Iftikhar, Lt Colonel for Judge Advocate General, GHQ.
According to the application seeking the registration of the FIR, Mazari made a “derogatory and hatred [sic] statement on May 21” against Pakistan Army and its chief Gen. Bajwa.
“Her derogatory statements are highly disparaging aimed to cause and incite mutiny/intimidation amongst ranks and file of [the] Pakistan Army,” it stated, adding, “It also leads to ridicule and create hatred within the Pakistan Army which made out [sic] a serious offence,” the application said.
It alleged that Mazari also defamed the senior military leadership as these “statements, made with the intent to cause and create unrest and chaos in the Pakistan Army” which is a “punishable offence”.
Imaan made these remarks on May 21 after her mother was arrested by officials of the anti-corruption department of the Punjab province, but was released on the same day after the Islamabad High Court’s intervention.
Shireen, 59, a former cabinet colleague of Imran Khan, has been critical of the Army after the former premier was removed from office through a no-confidence motion last month.
When asked about the arrest by the media, her daughter accused Gen. Bajwa and the army of being instrumental in her mother’s detention.
The former minister had claimed earlier this week that she was asked to visit the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) headquarters after her ministry of human rights pursued a bill about enforced disappearances in the country.
Narrating the incident, she said that the day the human rights ministry was planning to table a bill about enforced disappearances in the National Assembly; she had to go to the ISI main office in the capital.
“That evening I got a phone call asking me to appear at the ISI headquarters. I went and I said that we had signed international conventions,” she said, without giving more details about the visit.
She said that after the bill was tabled in the National Assembly, it was referred to the interior committee where “invisible shadows” tried to change some of the clauses.
“The bill was passed with the amendments but then it ‘disappeared’ on the way after it was sent to the Senate – the upper house,” she claimed.
