LAHORE; The controversy surrounding journalist Suhail Warraich’s recent column has deepened, with a complaint filed at the FIA Cyber Crime Wing in Lahore seeking the registration of a case against him for allegedly spreading “false news.” At the same time, Warraich has issued a clarification, saying his column was “misunderstood.”
The application alleged that Warraich, in his Aug 16 column for Daily Jang and on social media, claimed that Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Field Marshal Asim Munir had remarked during a stopover in Brussels that “political reconciliation is possible only if there is a sincere apology.” The complaint argued the statement was misleading and harmful to a national institution.
Earlier, DG ISPR dismissed the report as “misleading,” stressing that the army chief had not made any political statement or mentioned any apology during his recent foreign trip. The military’s spokesperson even rebuked the journalist through state-run media, sparking widespread debate.
Breaking his silence, Warraich said on Friday that his column had been “misunderstood” and that the points refuted by DG ISPR were “never part of my writing.”
“The title of my column was simply ‘First Meeting’. Nowhere does it use the word interview, nor does it mention May 9 events, Imran Khan, or any apology,” he clarified in a statement on X.
He stressed that the single line he wrote referred only to the COAS citing verses of the Holy Quran on political reconciliation. “What impressions others drew from it is their prerogative. Those points denied on such a large scale were not in my column at all.”
Warraich added that he respected Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry (DG ISPR) but believed the response was based on “a misunderstanding.” He also said he did not see any need to respond to criticism, noting: “History will ultimately decide in favor of journalism.”
