Days after his exclusive story on growing rift between the Nawaz Sharif government and Pakistan’s military leadership created ripples across the world, the civilian regime in a swift move on Tuesday put Dawn columnist Cyril Almeida on Exit Control List.
An Exit Control List is a type of a border control measure maintained by the Pakistan government which empowers it to bar people named in the list from leaving the country.
Almeida took to Twitter to express his dismay over the gag order against him.
Puzzled, saddened. Had no intention of going anywhere; this is my home. Pakistan.
— cyril almeida (@cyalm) October 11, 2016
I feel sad tonight. This is my life, my country. What went wrong.
— cyril almeida (@cyalm) October 10, 2016
On October 6, Almeida in his exclusive scoop for Dawn had quoted the civilian government asking military to act against terror as Pakistan was increasingly getting isolated on international forum.
Pakistan government has thrice denied the story since.
The Foreign Office vehemently rejected the report and termed it “speculative”. On Monday, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ordered authorities to take “stern action” against those responsible for publishing the “fabricated” story.
“Prime Minister took serious notice of the violation and directed that those responsible should be identified for stern action,” according to an official statement.
Almeida’s scoop came amidst a backdrop of heightened tension between India and Pakistan following the attack on an Indian army base in Uri on September 18 in which 19 soldiers were killed by Pakistan-backed terrorists from the Jaish-e-Mohammed outfit.
-With PTI inputs
