A video of a retired Army Officer and former defence secretary Lt Gen (retd) Asif Yaseen has gone viral on social media, where he can be seen threatening journalist Azaz Syed for asking some tough questions – telling Syed to ‘make preparations for his funeral’.
The incident took place during a press conference of the Veterans of Pakistan (VoP), a non-political organisation of ex-servicemen.
The retired armed forces officials were demanding the immediate removal of Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah, dissolution of the Parliament and general elections within the next three months, echoing the demands being made by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairperson, Imran Khan.
During the press conference, journalist Azaz Syed approached former defence secretary Asif Yaseen and asked him if he thought that generals should return their government allotted land-holdings during the ongoing economic crisis.
اعزاز سید کو ریٹایرڈ جنرل کہہ رہے ہیں کہ “یار تم اپنے جنازے کا بندوبست کرو”
کیا ایک سوال پر ایسی بات کہنا فاشزم نہیں ہے؟ @AzazSyed keep asking questions pic.twitter.com/HoMqDiBIVa— Waseem Abbasi (@Wabbasi007) June 6, 2022
At this, Yaseen said “You should make preparations for your funeral,” and walked away. When Azaz followed him and begun to ask about the various businesses that generals are engaged in, Yaseen pulled back and said in an upset tone, “You’re once again doing what Baig did, so stop it.”
When Azaz told him that he was merely asking questions at a press conference, Yaseen looked at him incredulously and said, “Take care of your respect and remain silent.”
As Yaseen walked away again, Azaz followed him and asked him why the VoP hadn’t let any journalists ask any questions after the press conference. At this, Yaseen appeared to stop and make some sort of contact with Azaz, who was prompted to tell the ex-military man to refrain from touching him.
Yaseen then said, “You had better get out of here,” and said he would refuse to answer any more questions until Azaz left the vicinity.
VoP is a class of its own in Pakistan and now hungry for power. Vastly outnumber the in service personnel it’s a pressure group now and uses Imran/PTI as a front. These are neither non political nor civilians but pretend to be both.
Imran with his popular support will at some stage turn against this class. As these have usurped poor people rights in the name of state welfare,