Tensions between Pakistan’s military establishment and the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) escalated dramatically on December 5, 2025, as Director General Inter-Services Public Relations (DG ISPR) Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry unleashed a blistering critique of former Prime Minister Imran Khan during a Rawalpindi press conference. Labeling Khan’s persistent anti-army rhetoric a “creeping threat to the nation,” Chaudhry warned that such divisive narratives have surpassed political discourse, endangering national integrity and public trust in the armed forces.
“Who are you? What message do you want to give? Who do you think you are?” Chaudhry directly challenged the incarcerated PTI leader, branding him a “sick-minded person” obsessed with undermining the military. He accused PTI of peddling “fake news and lies” to foster a false equivalence between the army and the state, asserting, “The military is not the state; the government is supreme.” This comes amid Khan’s imprisonment at Adiala Jail since 2023, where PTI demands unrestricted meetings—demands Chaudhry dismissed as unconstitutional, questioning, “Under which law… can this be allowed? Which politics permits meeting a convict while building a narrative against the armed forces?”
Chaudhry defended the military’s apolitical ethos, emphasizing its role as a bulwark against external perils like India’s “Hindutva mindset” and internal threats from “khawarij terrorists” and Afghan-based proxies. “It is the armed forces standing between these threats and the people of Pakistan,” he declared, probing PTI’s motives: “The one who attacks their own army… is he trying to create space for someone else’s army? What is his design?”
Invoking constitutional safeguards, Chaudhry clarified limits on free speech under Articles 17 and 19, which prohibit expressions undermining state security. He sidestepped specifics on May 9 riot cases, deferring to civil courts, while underscoring the army’s diverse composition: “We come from all areas, religions, sects… but we put all that aside to serve and sacrifice.”
