Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa said on Thursday that the hostile forces are polluting the young minds with the help of social media in the country.
“Youth is our investment in future. Faceless and nameless hostile forces are polluting mind of youth through social media,” he said while addressing a seminar Role of Youth in Rejecting Extremism in Rawalpindi.
Gen Bajwa said the fight against terrorism will have to be fought on many fronts and through different organs of the state.
The army chief’s statement comes a few days after information minister Marriyum Aurangzeb warned social media users of action under the cyber crime law.
“Those, who are using social media for slanderous and negative propaganda against the constitutional state institutions, are warned to desist from this undesirable activity,” the state minister had said in a recent statement.
“Fight here onwards has to be carried on by all organs of the state and its people. Raad ul Fasaad is just the begining of the new phase,” the army chief said.
Appreciating the results of the ongoing operation, COAS said: “Security Threats have diminished resulting in an environment where development can take off.”
He commended his troops for valiantly fighting the enemies of the state adding that Pakistan Army is the only army in the world that has defeated terrorism on this scale.
Also speaking at the seminar, Director General Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) Major General Asif Ghafoor on Thursday said the “nature and character” of extremism has changed.
“I stand very privileged here today as your host to welcome you on this seminar as part of our ongoing Operation Raddul Fasaad,” he said.
“Raddul Fasaad is aimed at consolidating gains of all military operatioms earlier concluded in kinetic domain and to bring about an enduring peace and stability. One of its strands is to eliminate extremism from our society. The requirement becomes more pronounced when we see that the nature and character of this conflict has also changed with ideology of Islamic State which focuses on targeting minds of our youth,” he said.
The DG ISPR further said it is our collective duty as ‘state’ and individual duty in our respective domain to shield our youth against this threat. “The process involves identification of threat and response measures,” he added.
“Please know that amongst others, we owe our achievements in ongoing operations to the youth. Of all the sacrifices made by uniformed Pakistanis 90 per cent contributions are by our young soldiers and officers.”
According to Ghafoor, the seminar was focused on an analysis of “the phenomenon of extremism”.
