Islamabad, Pakistan: Lt Gen Faiz Hamid (Retd) is formally accused of working against the safety and interest of the state.
The involvement of Lt Gen Faiz Hamid (Retd), in events related to creating agitation and unrest, leading up to multiple incidents including but not limited to the 9th May 2023 incident for fomenting instability; at the behest of and in collusion with the vested political interests being separately investigated.
According to a press statement issued by the Inter-Service Public Relations (ISPR) of Pakistan Armed Forces, on 12 August 2024, the process of FGCM was initiated against Lt Gen Faiz Hamid (Retd) under provisions of the Pakistan Army Act, and first place, Lt Gen Faiz Hameed (Retd) has been formally arraigned on charges of engaging in political activities, violations of Official Secret Act detrimental to safety and interest of the state, misuse of authority & government resources and causing wrongful loss to a person(s).
During the process, the involvement of Lt Gen Faiz Hamid (Retd), in events related to creating agitation and unrest, leading up to multiple incidents including but not limited to the 9th May 2023 incident for fomenting instability; at the behest of and in collusion with vested political interests, is also being separately investigated. Lt Gen Faiz Hamid (Retd) is being afforded all legal rights as per the law.
What does this development mean?
1. Charge sheet means that complete evidence exists against Lt Gen Faiz Hameed who has been formally charged in the FGCM.
2. Out of the multiple charges, the first and most important one is Lt Gen Faiz Hameed’s involvement in political activities.
3. This press release also proves that the retired officer was involved in events related to 9 May and many others before that like protests which were taken out in May 2022 and in November 2022 at the time of appointment of the army chief etc.
4. This press release also proves that Lt Gen Faiz Hameed retired was doing all these actions on instructions and orders of Imran Khan who is the political head of his party.
5. The real culprit is the political leadership of PTI which used this officer for vested political interests.
Islamabad Bureau adds:
How did Faiz Hameed play his role in the May 9 conspiracy?
During the interrogation of Lt. Gen. (retd) Faiz Hameed, grave facts related to May 9, 2023, Black Day came out of the clouds, and information available with interrogating agencies was enough to trial Imran Niazi and Faiz Hameed for sedition charges for revolt against the state of Pakistan.
According to available information to DND News Agency, the false flag that was staged on November 3, 2022, in the form of a planned murderous attack on Imran Niazi near Muridke was a preamble for whatever happened after that. Information suggests that Faiz Hameed and Imran Niazi planned an attack on Imran Niazi to blame military officers and then Imran Niazi started the provocative speeches against the Pakistan Army, targeting two officers whose names were provided by Faiz Hameed.
It must be remembered that Faiz Hameed retired on December 10, 2022, but he continued planning to sabotage the reputation of his former institution and both also decided to attack police parties that were coming to arrest Imran Niazi in the Al-Qadir Trust case. Available information suggests that over 500 WhatsApp groups were created in the past when Faiz Hameed was DGC to build up Project Imran. These groups had the majority of members belonging to families of serving and retired military men. Admins of such groups were members of the Gang of Niazi who started filling groups with anti-army venom after the arrest of Imran Khan on the instructions of Faiz Hameed. The purpose of launching attacks on officials of ISI through these groups was to build pressure on former and sitting military men to create a coup and instigate PTI followers against the Pakistan Army and Imran Niazi deliberately repeated the names of the senior officers of the army when he was leaving Zaman Park for Islamabad.
After the arrest of Faiz Hameed, it had been revealed why and how in just a few hours more than two hundred places belonging to the Pakistan Army were attacked by PTI leaders and workers and the targets of vandalism were only military places. Such military sites, unknown to local citizens, were also brutally burned to ashes in a few hours.
The most important question related to the events of May 9 was how could PTI workers be so focused only on military-related buildings like Corps Commander House in Lahore, CSD and MES office in Lahore, ISI office in Faisalabad, FC Fort in Chakdara, GHQ Main Gate, Army Military History Institute, AFIC, Rahwali Gate in Gujranwala and Punjab Regimental Center in Mardan. The answer is received now and it has been revealed that the list was shared by Faiz Hameed who planned an attack on his former institution.
It was further revealed that the PTI campaign against the Pakistan Army launched from abroad before May 9 was part of a strategy of Faiz Hameed because attacking army installations needed an extreme level of hatred among PTI followers and this hatred was created through an anti-army mentality campaign.
Imran-Faiz duo and stories of corruption
Imran-Faiz Gang was notorious for their ruthlessness and they were beyond the reach of anybody so sharing anything about their covert operations like running Real Estate mafias could be life-threatening for any reporter. The Gang of Niazi exploited state resources to buy certain anchors, analysts, columnists, and journalists. Some were greased through providing state property on lease for 30-plus years in Islamabad and Rawalpindi while some were in the pay role of a state institution but were working only for Faiz Hameed. Resources of Bahria Town Housing Societies were also at the disposal of Faiz Hameed for pampering handpicked journalists, and civil, military, and judiciary officers. The assignment given to gang members was to praise Imran Niazi and discredit everybody who dared to contest shallow thinking of Niazi.
When Faiz Hameed was in office (DGC and then DGI), nobody was getting the actual pulse of what Imran Khan and Faiz Hameed had been doing because nobody dared to contest them. However, things started coming to the surface when former Chief of Pakistan Army General Bajwa found out that Faiz Hameed was using all resources of the institution on a personal level and he removed Faiz Hameed from the post of DGI and broke this circle of tyranny. Imran Khan confirmed during his conversation with journalists on August 15, 2024, in Adiala Jail that he did not want to replace Faiz Hameed with any new DGI and he was very angry with General Bajwa because Faiz was his asset. When Faiz Hameed was removed from the post of DGISI, the army was relieved that a sensitive institution got out of the dirty hands of the ‘Gang of Niazi’.
Some retired officers of the Punjab Revenue Department claim that it was not only Top City but almost every private housing scheme that was illegally developed in the 10 years had direct or indirect linkage with Imran Niazi and Faiz Hameed because no official of the provincial as well as federal department could dare to say no to Faiz Hameed. It was also claimed that the original map of Rawalpindi Ring Road was changed thrice to benefit the “Gang of Niazi” for developing illegal housing schemes on lands already procured by their friends in peanuts and the price of land went up when Rawalpindi Ring Road touched such lands. Many stories still need confirmation from official quarters like the Top City saga. This case testifies that stories of corruption of the “Gang of Niazi” in housing societies are not unfounded but need investigation. Some Revenue Department retired officers believe Imran Khan and Faiz Hameed made over Rs.40 billion in real estate ventures. Faiz Hameed had formed teams of serving and retired officers who were fully engaged in facilitating real estate businesses and selling/buying television and radio channel licenses (the sitting Chairman PEMRA who has been serving since 2018 can be a useful person to further information). The alleged audio leak of former Chairman PEMRA Absar Alam indicates how the Gang of Niazi was controlling the media scene.
It was also revealed in the investigation that Faiz Hameed helped Farah Gogi and his husband to leave Pakistan and alerted them well before Farah’s name appeared on the surface regarding the Toshakhana Case. Faiz Hameed was also a partner in a deal between Imran Niazi and Malik Riaz in the 190-million-pound issue. It is revealed that former First Lady Bushra Manika had been in constant contact with Faiz Hameed when he was DGI and both had the approval of Imran Niazi to manage his cash and gold transactions that were arriving as bribes from Real Estate ventures. It is also claimed that there were standing instructions from Faiz Hameed that Farah Gogi (who is known as a partner of Bushra in bribe deals) would be given VVIP cover whenever she would go out of the country from any airport in Pakistan therefore Farah Gogi was exonerated from normal checking of her baggage whenever she traveled abroad. It is claimed she had been transferring hard cash and gold from Pakistan to abroad and had her share in money although the lion’s shares of ill-gotten money belonged to three partners—Imran Niazi, Bushra Manika, and Faiz Hameed.
Faiz Hameed and his team continued to operate even after Faiz Hameed retired from the post and Imran Niazi was sent to jail. Utilizing filthy money was not a problem for Faiz Hameed who was arranging funds for public gatherings of Imran Khan after his removal as prime minister. The money was also available for vloggers, and YouTubers in Pakistan and even for foreign journalists for writing articles in Khan’s favor. The purpose of the covert operations of Faiz Hameed after his retirement was to engineer a revolt within the Pakistan Army that was a failed attempt on May 9, 2022. His anti-military activities were unearthed in an investigation of the May 9 incidents.
It was a hard decision for the Pakistan Army to court-martial one of its X-DGIs for the first time in the history of Pakistan. Some sources claim that some former colleagues advised Faiz Hameed to restrain from further attempts of mutiny in the army but he was not ready to stop because he was resource-filled and his team in civil bureaucracy, judiciary, and media were performing results. There is a phrase in the English language that is ‘enough is enough’. At last, the Army had no choice and the Gang of Niazi was busted because Niazi and Faiz were planning another May 9 scene to spread chaos and instability in the country. Lastly, it is important to know that if the army has laid hands on X-DGISI, then no one will be spared if found involved in destabilizing the country.