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Thursday, March 14, 2024

Army has withdrawn my post-retirement benefits: Gen (R) Naeem Lodhi

He has been deprived of allotted plots, his medical facilities have been withheld, and TV channels have been directed to keep him off-air.

Former defence secretary Lt-Gen Naeem Khalid Lodhi has claimed that the army has withdrawn his post-retirement benefits, including any officially allotted plots.

Reportedly, he received a call by a brigadier of the AG branch, who said all medical facilities awarded to Lt-Gen (R) Lodhi had been blocked. He would not be allowed to enter army premises, and his membership in all army messes and clubs had been revoked.

Moreover, television channels were told not to take him on their programs.

In an interview with Global Times Pakistan, he confirmed the news and said he wanted to clarify that he is affiliated with PTI.

He said other parties are based on dynastic politics, wherein eligible leaders are not allowed to hold important positions.

They said the incumbent PMLN-led coalition government cannot solve the public’s problems because they have different ideologies.

“Within PML-N, there are two groups; PPP has its own ideology, while JUI-F’s Maulana Fazlul Rehman has already split himself from the government.”

Imran Khan was ousted in April through a no-trust motion by the opposition. In March, when he was still in office, Khan claimed that the opposition’s no-confidence motion against him resulted from a “foreign conspiracy” to punish him for his independent foreign policy and that funds were channeled from abroad to oust him.

Later, Khan claimed that the former Pakistani ambassador in Washington sent a cable to Islamabad on March 7, detailing the conspiracy.

The cable included details of Ambassador Asad Majeed Khan’s meeting with Lu at the Pakistan Embassy.

During the Islamabad High Court Bar Association (IHCBA) regime change conspiracy seminar last Thursday, Lt-Gen (Retd) Naeem Lodhi backed the demand for a judicial inquiry into the allegations of conspiracy.

He said the judicial commission should find out whether there is a power that changes regimes and whether it has interests in Pakistan.

He said they should probe Donald Lu’s ‘threat letter’ to Imran Khan and whether any extra-ordinary meetings were held.

Read more: PTI MNA Shandana claims she was approached by foreign embassy

He said Pakistan had tried hard to balance out between China and the US but said Washington is pressuring Islamabad to pick a side without giving it a choice.

He said if Pakistan sided with the US, its relations with Aghan Taliban would be tarnished, and talks with TTP would fail. He said Pakistan’s trade with India would be resumed, and New Delhi’s oppression of Kashmiris would continue.

He warned that Pakistan would not be allowed to buy petrol from Iran or Russia. He said, “a fearless leader with a vision is need of the time. The world is not for pigeons and doves. The world is for eagles and tigers; if you want to live, keep your head high.”