A commission formed to probe the Faizabad sit-in has cleared former spymaster Lt Gen Faiz Hameed of any wrongdoing and pinned the blame on the government of the time.
The three-member commission, which included former IG Tahir Alam, Khushhal Khan, and former AIG KP Dr. Akhtar Ali Shah, completed a 243-page report and gave it to the government and Supreme Court.
The commission found the Shehbaz Sharif-led Punjab government responsible for failing to stop the sit-in. However, Shehbaz Sharif, who is currently prime minister, has not been named in the report.
The report said that there was no link to establish the involvement of former DG ISI Lt Gen (r) Faiz Hameed and former DG Rangers Maj Gen Naveed Azhar Hayat.
Former Pakistani prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, former interior minister Ahsan Iqbal, current IB chief Fawad Asadullah, firmer ISI DG Lt Gen (R) Faiz Hameed, former IB chief Aftab Sultan, former Punjab IG Arif Nawaz, and former Rangers DG Lt Gen (R) Naveed Azhar Hayat are among those who made statements in person or writing that are included in the report.
The tribunal concluded that the Punjab government refrained from taking action against the TLP to preserve its support base.
According to the commission’s report, only Absar Alam, the former chairman of PEMRA, made a statement criticizing Hameed.
However, the commission did recommend that a code of conduct should be developed for the intelligence agencies. It also recommended that the Intelligence Bureau should be made in charge of internal security matters and military intelligence should stay away from civilian matters.