Islamabad, Pakistan: The News Reporting teaches a journalist to be inquisitive, trust his/her negative side of thinking, and question everything that looks questionable. These are the qualities a reporter uses to get what is not known and what is not officially accepted.
However, a good reporter does not share the news with the public other than official statements if the matter relates to national security. Hence, whatever the ‘the Gang of Niazi’ was doing through using financial resources and power conferred to Faiz Hameed (first as DGC and then as DGI) was known to the majority of reporters of Rawalpindi-Islamabad but nobody dared to share it with the public because Faiz Hameed was heading the most sensitive intelligence outfit of the country.
Whatever appeared in the ISPR statement about the court martial of Faiz Hameed is just the tip of the iceberg
Moreover, the duo of Imran-Faiz 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. Whatever has appeared in the ISPR statement about the court martial of Faiz Hameed is just the tip of the iceberg. The Gang of Niazi is too huge to unearth with a single case such as of Top City. Its members are everywhere; in the media; in the judiciary; in civil bureaucracy; and also in intelligence agencies.
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. It is pertinent to add here that DGI said in a joint press conference with DGI ISPR on October 27 that when he first met Imran Niazi who was the prime minister of the country, Niazi asked the DGI ‘what is the biggest problem of Pakistan. The new DGI said “Pakistan’s economy”. Imran Niazi said, “General Sahib, Pakistan’s biggest problem is the opposition, not the economy”. These words show Niazi’s mental state and his shallow thinking because Niazi was used to using the former DGI (Faiz Hameed) to crush opponents instead of doing something better for the country and he expected the new DGI to work for him just as Faiz Hameed was working.
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 is 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 XDGIs 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 XDGISI, then no one will be spared if found involved in destabilizing the country.
