Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Wednesday visited headquarters of the Special Service Group (SSG), Inter-Service Public Relation Director General Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor said in a tweet.
“We have brought stability by failing all inimical forces operating against Pakistan. We shall never let it go away at any cost,” the COAS said during the visit. “SSG is our pride with myriad contributions towards defence of country through its valiant officers & soldiers since creation of Pakistan,” he added.
The visit by the COAS comes a day after former military ruler Gen (r) Pervez Musharraf, who was from the SSG, was handed a death sentence in the high treason case. Musharraf served in the elite SSG from 1966-1972. During the 1971 war with India, Musharraf was a company commander of an SSG commando battalion.
A special court in Islamabad on Tuesday had awarded death sentence to the former military dictator in absentia for suspending the constitution on November 3, 2007. It marked the first time in Pakistan’s history that a military chief was declared guilty of high treason and handed a death sentence. The verdict was split 2-1.
In a quick reaction to the ruling, the media wing of the armed forces had said, “The decision given by special court about General Pervez Musharraf, retired, has been received with lot of pain and anguish by rank and file of Pakistan armed forces. An ex-army chief, chairman joint chief of staff committee and President of Pakistan, who has served the country for over 40 years, fought wars for the defence of the country can surely never be a traitor.”
The statement by the DG ISPR had come after a meeting of the top military leadership was held at the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi in the wake of the judgement.
“The due legal process seems to have been ignored including constitution of the special court, denial of fundamental right of self-defence, undertaking individual specific proceedings and concluding the case in haste,” it had added. The ISPR had said the armed forces expected that justice would be dispensed in line with the Constitution.
Attorney General of Pakistan Anwar Mansoor Khan had also said that General (r) Pervez Musharraf was not given a fair trial, adding that the case against former president was ‘void from the beginning’. “President Musharraf did not get an opportunity to record his statement according to Section 342,” he had told a press conference in Islamabad late Tuesday. “He did not get an opportunity to present his testimony and witnesses,” he had said, and questioned why the decision was issued ‘in haste’. “Even the trial was conducted in absentia, which is not a routine matter,” he had said. “Every person is guaranteed a fair trial under Article 10-A of the Constitution. A trial should not just be fair but must also be seen to be fair,” he had added.
