FROM ZEESHAN MIRZA
KARACHI: The Karachi police on Tuesday filed a first information report (FIR) against PTI leader Shahbaz Gill on charges of using “inappropriate” language against the Pakistan Army.
The complaint was lodged under Sections 131 (abetting mutiny, or attempting to seduce a soldier, sailor, or airman from his duty), 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups, etc), 500 (punishment for defamation) and 505 (statements conducing to public mischief) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and relevant sections of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (Peca) at the Brigade police station on the complaint of Mohammed Saeed.
Saeed said he was using his mobile phone when he saw a video in which the PTI leader was making a speech, which was widely broadcasted by electronic media and went viral on social media.
“How is it possible that without the former army chief’s instructions […] Azam Swati was stripped naked and tortured,” the FIR quoted Gill as saying.
The complainant said Gill’s words were aimed at instigating the general public against the army chief and other army officers. “He (Gill) has given a false impression that the army chief was involved in all these things,” the FIR stated.
The complaint said that Gill initiated the above-mentioned campaign under a “well-thought conspiracy”, which was shared by social media with an aim to “spread hatred and enmity against the Pakistan Army”. It added that Gill was also responsible for a campaign defaming and harming the army chief’s reputation.
“The suspect’s such statement is aimed at instigating the army, navy, and air force to rebel, and such statement triggers fear and chaos among the masses,” Saeed said, adding that under such circumstances, any person could commit any illegal action against the state institutions, leading to breach of peace.
Therefore, he requested in the FIR that legal action should be initiated against Gill. The PTI leader was previously arrested on August 9 on charges of sedition and inciting the public against the state institutions.
According to the FIR, a programme was aired on a news channel in which Gill appeared as a guest. Answering a question, he had tried to create a divide between the officers below the rank of brigadier and above besides trying to affiliate the officers below the rank of brigadier with a political party, it had added. He was later released on bail.
