Months after a smear campaign against the Pakistan Army was initiated, a user who was believed to be a member of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) social media team apologized for spreading against martyrs of the army via his phony Twitter and Facebook profiles.
Abdul Rehman Kamal, a Charsadda resident, stated that he was a PTI social media member who propagated false information against the army from Dubai and UAE.
Taking to Twitter, he admitted to using inappropriate language against military martyrs on his account, which was registered under the alias Raheela Sadpara.
— ʀᴀʜᴇᴇʟᴀ sᴀᴅᴘᴀʀᴀ (@R_Sadpara) May 6, 2023
Kamal had been a part of PTI’s social media team for the last six years and lived in Dubai. He had three bogus Twitter profiles and one on Facebook.
السلام عليكم ۔
پچھلے چند مہینوں سے میرے ٹویٹس سیکیورٹی اداروں کے خلاف ہو رہی ہیں۔ جس سے اداروں اور خصوصاً شہداء کے فیملیز کی دل آزاری ہو رہی ہے۔
یہ عہد ہے کہ آئیندہ کیلئے میرے اکاونٹ سے آرمی یا دیگر سیکیورٹی فورسز کیخلاف کوئی بھی پوسٹ شیئر نہیں ہوگی۔
جو پہلے کئے ہیں اس کیلئے میں…— ʀᴀʜᴇᴇʟᴀ sᴀᴅᴘᴀʀᴀ (@R_Sadpara) May 5, 2023
After acknowledging his mistake, Kamal expressed sorry for his previous behavior and resolved not to use inappropriate language in his posts in the future.
He also apologizes to the grieving families of martyrs for his offensive posts.
Several social media trends vilifying the army and its officers had gone viral in the last year.
Following the chopper crash in Lasbela last year, a group of social media activists and political zealots launched an abhorrent and unacceptable online campaign to advance their personal and political malice, eliciting strong reactions from people from all walks of life, political leadership, and state institutions.
The ruling coalition blamed the PTI’s social media staff for the smear campaign, which was launched at the request of PTI Chairman Imran Khan.
The military strongly condemned “false propaganda and insensitive comments on social media” in August 2022.
Later, the FIA formed a team to track down and apprehend people behind the campaigns.
