A Daily from Pakistan calls for action against Azhar, Saeed

A leading Pakistani daily has asked the civilian and military establishment why action against JeM chief Massod Azhar and JuD’s Hafiz Saeed was a danger to the country’ national security. An editorial in The Nation, considered close to the government and military establishment, came as a journalist, Cyril Almeida, of Dawn was banned from leaving Pakistan because of his report on a rift between the military and the civilian government over the military’s covert support to militant groups such as the Haqqani network, the Taliban and the LeT.

The editorial, “How to lose friends and alienate people”, said the government and the military were lecturing the press instead of taking actions against Azhar and Saeed.

Jaish-e-Mohammed leader and Pathankot terror attack mastermind Azhar and Jamaat-ud-Dawah chief Saeed, the mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai attacks, roam freely in Pakistan and are believed to have the protection of the military.

The editorial said it was a “disturbing day when civilian and military top leadership meet to lecture the media on how to do their job”. “Apparently a barrage of online abuse, and three official denials were not enough to assuage tempers riled after Mr. Almeida’s exclusive report in Dawn, detailing an unusual exchange between the very same civilian and military top brass that issued forth a statement on the violation of “universally acknowledged principles of reporting on national security issues”, the editorial said.

In an editorial, Dawn said it stood by Almeida’s report, and rejected allegations of “vested interest and false reporting”.