26 ex-army officers allowed to appear on media as defence analysts

[Ali Tariq]

April 16, 2019

The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) has allowed 26 retired officers of the armed forces to appear on media as defence analysts. — ISPR/File

ISLAMABAD: The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) has allowed 26 retired officers of the armed forces to appear on media as defence analysts.

According to a notification issued by the ISPR on Monday, Lt Gen Moinuddin Haider, Let Gen Amjad Shoaib, Lt Gen Khalid Maqbool, Lt Gen Naeem Khalid Lodhi, Lt Gen Asif Yaseen Malik, Lt Gen Raza Ahmed, Lt Gen Ashraf Saleem, Maj Gen Ejaz Awan, Maj Gen Ghulam Mustafa, Brig Saad Rasool, Brig Farooq Hameed, Brig Ghazanfar Ali, Brig Aslam Ghumman, Brig Nadir Mir, Brig Asadullah, Brig Asif Haroon, Brig Harris Nawaz, Brig Said Nazir, Brig Simson Simson Sharof, Admiral Ahmed Tasnim, AM Shahid Latif, AM Ikram Bhatti, AM Masood Akhtar, AM Riaz-u-Din, AVM Shahzad Ch and Air Cdre Sajjad Haider have been allowed to appear on media as defence analysts.

“Their views/comments/opinions on media shall remain personal/independent expression and not attributable to the institution,” read the notification.

The prominent omissions are retired Brig Mahmood Shah, retired Lt Gen Muhammad Asad Durrani, Lt Gen Talat Masood, retired Maj Amir and two former DG ISPR retired Maj Gen Athar Abbas and Maj Gen Rashid Quershi.

However, the notification said that any other retired officer desirous of appearing as defence analyst can contact the ISPR to obtain a no-objection certificate.

The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority recently instructedall television channels to seek prior clearance from the ISPR before inviting retired military officers on news and current affairs programmes “to solicit their views on matters of national security”.

The media regulator, in a notification dated April 4, stated that “concerned quarters” have observed that retired military officers, when invited on TV programmes, “are usually not fully conversant with the latest defence and security developments due to their service background and post-retirement time”.

 

[313ghazi]

Good news. This way the discussion around defence is likely to be more grounded in reality, than the hogwash that we are served nowadays.

 

[alibaz]

Others may not have applied for NOC up till now, I expect some more names coming in near future. All those who have been cleared are the right people for the job.

 

[graphican]

Good going. Thanks for the initiative.

 

[aiman_hashmi.25]

April 16, 2019

The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) has allowed 26 retired officers of the armed forces to appear on media as defence analysts. — ISPR/File

ISLAMABAD: The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) has allowed 26 retired officers of the armed forces to appear on media as defence analysts.

According to a notification issued by the ISPR on Monday, Lt Gen Moinuddin Haider, Let Gen Amjad Shoaib, Lt Gen Khalid Maqbool, Lt Gen Naeem Khalid Lodhi, Lt Gen Asif Yaseen Malik, Lt Gen Raza Ahmed, Lt Gen Ashraf Saleem, Maj Gen Ejaz Awan, Maj Gen Ghulam Mustafa, Brig Saad Rasool, Brig Farooq Hameed, Brig Ghazanfar Ali, Brig Aslam Ghumman, Brig Nadir Mir, Brig Asadullah, Brig Asif Haroon, Brig Harris Nawaz, Brig Said Nazir, Brig Simson Simson Sharof, Admiral Ahmed Tasnim, AM Shahid Latif, AM Ikram Bhatti, AM Masood Akhtar, AM Riaz-u-Din, AVM Shahzad Ch and Air Cdre Sajjad Haider have been allowed to appear on media as defence analysts.

“Their views/comments/opinions on media shall remain personal/independent expression and not attributable to the institution,” read the notification.

The prominent omissions are retired Brig Mahmood Shah, retired Lt Gen Muhammad Asad Durrani, Lt Gen Talat Masood, retired Maj Amir and two former DG ISPR retired Maj Gen Athar Abbas and Maj Gen Rashid Quershi.

However, the notification said that any other retired officer desirous of appearing as defence analyst can contact the ISPR to obtain a no-objection certificate.

The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority recently instructedall television channels to seek prior clearance from the ISPR before inviting retired military officers on news and current affairs programmes “to solicit their views on matters of national security”.

The media regulator, in a notification dated April 4, stated that “concerned quarters” have observed that retired military officers, when invited on TV programmes, “are usually not fully conversant with the latest defence and security developments due to their service background and post-retirement time”.

good news btw is forum pr toh nhi na

 

[CHI RULES]

Sorry to say most of the retired officers are pushed to comment on Govt and Army relations or on international politics so some times undesired statements do come out. On other hand defense related documentaries of Pakistan are mostly below par for e.g a program on JF 17 starts with picture of jet then some theoretical background and discussion with pilots flying the bird, the usual question how much good it is, is it easy to fly, then technicians and pilots raise there hands and say Pakistan Zinadabad, Narae Takbeer, PAF song starts and program is finished without any scientific info or performance features.

Sorry to say most of the retired officers are pushed to comment on Govt and Army relations or on international politics so some times undesired statements do come out. On other hand defense related documentaries of Pakistan are mostly below par for e.g a program on JF 17 starts with picture of jet then some theoretical background and discussion with pilots flying the bird, the usual question how much good it is, is it easy to fly, then technicians and pilots raise there hands and say Pakistan Zinadabad, Narae Takbeer, PAF song starts and program is finished without any scientific info or performance features.

These analysts should be invited in defense programs and should be asked questions and one should also request them to compare our defense assets with foreign ones so that moral of people should be raised as well as in order to develop interest in youngsters.