General (r) Bajwa, the former head of Pakistan’s armed forces, denied having a conversation with the journalist Shahid Maitla, whose recent columns unveiled shocking facts that opened a fresh Pandora’s Box.
The former top general clarified the situation when news of the purported journalist interview gained attention, claiming he had never given any interview and threatening those who were citing him with consequences.
Anchorperson and senior journalist Kamran Shahid shared a tweet in this regard, saying General (r) Bajwa denied giving an interview to any journalist Shahid Maitla. “I did not give any interview to anybody; I am not allowed to give any statement, comment or interview till 29 Nov 2024,” Kamran Shahid wrote quoting the former COAS.
Ex COAS Generel Bajwa has just shared with me the following statement “I did not give any interview to any body, I am not allowed to give any statement, comment or interview till 29 Nov 2024…”
— Kamran Shahid (@FrontlineKamran) March 24, 2023
Shahid Maitla also shared his side in one of the clips doing rounds on the internet. He said it was a meeting that turned into a casual interview.
The matter soon becomes the talk of the town, prompting reactions from the journalist fraternity.
TV host Talat Hussin, in one of his tweets, said the interview caused deep resentment in the Prime Minister’s office and the military command, who asked the former COAS to stop whatever he was doing.
Journalist Mattiullah Jan also shared his take on the matter, saying “After retirement army chiefs become timid enough not to embarrass their successors with formal interviews and yet they can’t resist reacting to serious allegations. Therefore while they rightfully deny having given an “interview” they do want their conversations to be reported.”
Born in Karachi, Sindh, on 11 November 1960, Bajwa was educated at the F. G. Sir Syed College and Gordon College in Rawalpindi before joining the Pakistan Military Academy in 1978. His family hails from Ghakhar Mandi, Punjab.
His father Muhammad Iqbal Bajwa was an officer of the Pakistan Army who died while in service in 1967 in Quetta, Balochistan, Pakistan.
Bajwa was seven years old when his father died and he was the youngest of five siblings. He and his siblings were raised by their mother, who died in September 2013. Bajwa’s father-in-law is retired major general Ijaz Amjad (brother of Iftikhar Khan Janjua).
Bajwa completed his secondary and intermediate education at F. G. Sir Syed College and Gordon College in Rawalpindi before joining the Pakistan Army in 1978, which directed him to attend the military academy. He was sent to attend the Pakistan Military Academy in Kakul and passing out in 1980.
Bajwa is a graduate of the Canadian Army Command and Staff College and the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, United States. He also attended the National Defence University, Islamabad.
