Of many unsavoury happenings in Pakistan, the most sensational one, and the most unreported, is that the country in the recent past has been run by Whatsapp groups run by judges, Generals and political leaders.
These groups were used to browbeat other judges, bureaucrats and journalists to fall in line–that is to target former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and other judicial intrigues.
Though it is not yet known who all were members of these Whatsapp groups, the following names have come to light–former Chief Justice of Supreme Court Saqib Nisar, former DG ISI Faiz Hameed and Justice Azmat Saeed and former Chief Justice Asif Khosa. Another possible key participant could be General Qamar Javed Bajwa .
The power and influence of these groups have been so pernicious that the number of high profile personalities in the network were certain to be extensive. It is not yet known whether these and similar groups continue to manipulate events in Pakistan today.
Chief Justice Saqib Nisar was a key member of this Whatsapp mafia. He was part of the military’s influencer group, assiduously working to put down politicians and others who came in the way of the army’s political games. The army wanted Nawaz Sharif to go and bring in Imran Khan. Breaking Nawaz Sharif-led Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz was a key project put in place at GHQ since the Musharraf days. The follow-up was Project Imran which came into fruition during the tenure of Raheel Sharif as the COAS. General Qamar Javed Bajwa played a key role in the projection and promotion of Imran Khan when he was the Rawalpindi Corps Commander.
Chief Justice Nisar was part of the cabal, using his judicial muscle to oust Nawaz Sharif on the pretext of following up on allegations made in the Panama Papers. A former chief judge of the apex court of Gilgit Baltistan Rana M Shamim has claimed in a notarized affidavit that he was a witness to CJP Saqib Nisar’s direction to a high court judge not to release Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz on bail at any cost before the 2018 general elections.
Nisar has now filed a complaint that his whatsapp has been hacked.
Likewise, Justice Azmat Saeed was part of a WhatsApp mafia that compelled bureaucrats to appoint select names in the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) formed to investigate Nawaz Sharif and others in the Panama Trial.When the then Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan chairman Zafar Hijazi, wrote to the Supreme Court about receiving calls and messages on WhatsApp asking him to propose certain names for the JIT. Hizazi has since been charged and arrested on many criminal charges.
Saeed’s proximity to Imran Khan could be known from the manner in which he was appointed to head some key government inquiry commissions after his retirement. Besides the Broadsheet Scandal, Saeed also headed a panel set up to regularise unauthorised constructions in Punjab during the Imran Khan regime. He was one of the three judges which finalised the JIT against Nawaz Sharif.
The power of WhatsApp has also been used by PML-N when its senior leader, Rana Sanaullah’s bail application in a drug case was being heard in 2019. The judge, hearing the application, Masood Arshad, stopped midway and said he was compelled to recuse from the hearing as he had received a WhatsApp message to do so. Rana Sanaulla is at present the Interior Minister in the Shehbaz Sharif-led government.