Thread by @hyzaidi

So apparently the closed door meeting yest by the army top brass with journos and others was intended to push for developing a narrative for the world re: Afghanistan. A few thoughts about what apparently transpired at the meeting…

1. Good luck trying to develop a credible narrative while beating down any voices of dissent within Pak media. Credibility is developed over years and years. No one will believe any narrative coming from the kind of toadies the establishment is fond of pushing within Pak. …>

… Incidentally, this is something that has been said again and again. But those in power forget again and again. They suddenly wake up at times of crises and realise that they need precisely the same credible voices they’ve been suppressing all this while. …>

2. The supposed offer by COAS Qamar Javed Bajwa to resign if it can be proved that the military was behind the continuing censorship of Hamid Mir is actually pretty amusing. First of all, anyone who knows how these things are done knows that there will never be a paper trail. …>

…At best it’ll come down to a he said she said, which only the most foolhardy of media houses will even attempt to get into, even knowing exactly where the pressures come from. But even more interestingly, it was the COAS who brought up Hamid Mir’s case. Obv the BBC HardTalk…>

…is causing concern in ‘concerned quarters.’ It’s causing concern bec it is precisely the opposite of the perception that the hybrid regime wants to give the outside world. Well, should have thought about it earlier. It’s never too late though to reassess. …>

3. What’s less amusing and far more serious, however, is the story narrated by @KlasraRauf re: what retd Gen Ejaz Awan said at the meeting …>

https://twitter.com/Jaferii/status/1425287143849611269

How dare a retd Grade 21 officer even suggest that ex-servicemen wanted to go and assault and/or kill a journalist or dissenter!? What kind of image are you giving of the Pak Army and its commandos? The fact that this two-bit retd officer felt comfortable even saying…>

…something like this in a room full of people and the top military brass is the real cause for concern. It’s not enough that the COAS told him that the Pak military should not be doing things like this; he should be categorically rebuked for even bringing up such rubbish. …>

You want to fix Pakistan’s narrative abroad? First fix your narrative within Pakistan.