A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
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Thiranjala Weerasinghe sj.- One Island Two Nations
?????????????????????????????????????????????????Thursday, May 11, 2017
Pakistan's army assures commitment to democracy after row with government
Maj.
Gen. Asif Ghafoor, director general of Inter Services Public Relations
(ISPR), speaks during a news conference in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, April
17, 2017. REUTERS/Faisal Mahmood
Pakistan's powerful military on Wednesday sought to calm worries of a
rift with the civilian government, emphasising its commitment to
democracy in a country where the army has often seized power.
The reassurance came after the military last month took the unusual step
of publicly criticising the government's actions following
investigations into a leaked newspaper story about a national security
meeting.
On Wednesday, the military's spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor told a news briefing there was no cause for concern.
"We will continue to work with all government institutions to do what is best for the country," Ghafoor said.
"There's been a lot of talk about democracy in the past two weeks, but
nowhere was there any mention that any actions should be taken against
democracy."
Relations between the civilian government and military have often been
strained in Pakistan, where several prime ministers, including Prime
Minister Nawaz Sharif himself during a previous administration in 1999,
have been ousted in coups.
The military has ruled Pakistan for 33 of the 70 years since the country gained independence from Britain in 1947.
The country has had a democratically elected government since 2008, but
the army retains sweeping influence and any hint of discord raises
worries among advocates of a strong civilian government.
The row came after an article in the English-language Dawn newspaper in
October, detailing high-level security talks, angered the army.
Sharif fired a close ally at the time of the leak and last month sacked
one of his senior advisers after an inquiry report was completed.
But a tweet from Ghafoor rejected Sharif's actions as "incomplete".
At the news conference on Wednesday, Ghafoor said the April 29 tweet was
"not against any government official or institution", adding that the
investigation into the leaks had come to a satisfactory conclusion.
(Reporting by Saad Sayeed; Editing by Alison Williams)