RAWALPINDI: Answering a question during a press conference, DG ISPR, Maj General Babar Iftikhar said that the army would serve tea and refreshments to the Pakistan Democratic Movement if they marched towards Rawalpindi.
“I don’t see a reason for [them] coming to Pindi. And if at all they want to come, we will offer them refreshments (chai pani) and look after them. What more can I say?”, Maj General Babar Iftikhar responded to a journalist.
Earlier, Maulana Fazlur Rehman had threatened to march towards Rawalpindi, where the General Headquarters (GHQ) of the Pakistan armed forces is based.
When Maj Gen Iftikhar was asked whether any “stern action” would be taken against those propagating an “anti-army narrative” he responded: “When it comes to criticism or allegations levelled, the army is doing its job. As to why are we not responding to that, only such allegations are responded to which have some weight or are based on facts.
“We have our hands full and we neither want to get involved in such things nor will we. We have stayed the course [and] we will stay the course. There is nothing to worry about; we are not worried.”
DG ISPR’s statements were widely discussed on social media with people comparing the tea served to Indian pilot Abhinandan after he had crashed into Pakistan.
Meanwhile, Imran Khan’s ex wife Mohtarma Reham Khan commented that this was “a rather cool answer”, by the relatively new DG ISPR.
