Gen Kayani should be given title of field marshal: Malik

Minister for Interior Rehman Malik said on Saturday that Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Pervaiz Kayani should be awarded with the title of field marshal for his services to democracy in the country.

“If today the government is completing its tenure, the credit for that also goes to General Kayani as he always supported the democratically elected government,” Rehman Malik said, while talking to reporters after delivering a farewell speech to officers and other personnel of the law enforcement agencies here at the Pakistan Sports Complex.

He said the law and order situation had improved in the country as the security plan devised by him had remained successful during the past five years in foiling the threats posed by terrorist elements. “When I became interior minister, the main challenge was that of terrorism. However, we have succeeded in breaking the backbone of terrorists,” he said.

Malik said that Pakistan suffered more than any other country in this war. “I am calling the war on terror as the Silent Third World War and I can prove this claim. In the war on terror, Pakistan not only lost over 40,000 precious human lives but also suffered economically,” he added.He said that the war on terror was not only Pakistan’s war but the reality was that Pakistan was fighting this war for the entire world.

To a question, he said that the recent incidents of bombing in Quetta and Karachi were a part of the conspiracy to destabilise Pakistan. He said only targeted operation was being conducted in Karachi against the miscreants and there was no need for a grand operation. He said Lashkar-e-Jhangvi was behind a series of terrorists activities in the country. All kinds of tools are being used to root out terrorism from the country, he said.

To another question, Malik said that he had not planned to quit politics and his statement in this regard was misquoted by a section of the press. “I have never said that I am going to quit politics. I will continue working as a political worker and serving my party,” he added.

The interior minister said that during the past five years, the PPP-led government took all decisions in the best national interest and did not take dictation from anyone. “The signing of the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project and the agreement to hand over Gwadar Port to a Chinese company show that we did not take dictation from anyone,” he maintained.

Earlier, in his farewell speech to officials of the law enforcement agencies, Malik lauded their role in maintaining law and order in the country.He said the role of the intelligence agencies; particularly the ISI remained exemplary in providing authentic reports about terrorists.Today the law and order situation had improved in the country and this was due to the professional commitment and unflinching determination of the law enforcement agencies, he added.