Credibility is gained by acknowledging the truth immediately, it is eroded by denying it for years and then appearing to acknowledge the reality. The Pakistani state has long believed that denying the truth even when it is evident and globally known, is the best way out.
In February last year, New-Pakistan had written about how the former spokesman of the Tehreek e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Ehsanullah Ehsan, escaped from his prison in January 2020, and made his way to Turkey. This information was made available through an audio recording that Ehsan made available.
At that time, the Pakistani state had refused to comment or speak about the escape of a terrorist who was behind the 2014 Army Public School attack, the assassination attempt on Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai and many others. They had also continued to deny any role of the state apparatus in Ehsan’s escape.
Just last week, however, finally, there was an admission. DG Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Maj Gen Babar Iftikhar informed a group of foreign media correspondents that “Ehsan’s escape was a “very serious” matter that had been investigated thoroughly and those found responsible in the episode had already been proceeded against. He also said “efforts are underway to arrest Ehsanullah Ehsan again” but that he wasn’t aware of his current whereabouts.”
As an editorial in Dawn pointed out “THE military’s revelation this week about the escape of former TTP spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan has given rise to more questions about an incident that was already steeped in mystery. It has now been confirmed by the army that Ehsan escaped from its custody a year ago — a development that had been largely met with conspicuous silence, until now, from both the government and security establishment.”
