Pakistan’s navy spokesperson, Lieutenant Normal Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, discovered himself on the centre of a rising on-line backlash after a video from a current press briefing appeared to point out him winking at a feminine journalist whereas responding to a query about jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan.
A brief clip from the briefing, now broadly circulated on X (previously Twitter), reveals the journalist questioning the military’s narrative on Imran Khan — usually described by military-aligned commentators as a “nationwide safety danger” — and asking whether or not the official stance marked a shift from earlier years.
In his response, Chaudhry added a controversial line in Urdu, “Aur chautha nuqta bhi jor lein, woh zehni mareez bhi hain”
(“Add a fourth level — that he’s additionally mentally ailing.”)
As he delivered the comment, his facial features — interpreted by viewers as a wink directed on the journalist — triggered prompt criticism.
Pakistan’s Military’s DG ISPR winking at a feminine journalist after she questioned why they’re being labelled as funded by Delhi.
Truthfully, I’m not even shocked.pic.twitter.com/FzA4SMgSM8
— Elite Predators (@elitepredatorss) December 9, 2025
Why the backlash erupted
The response on-line was swift and brutal. Customers referred to as the gesture “unprofessional” and “demeaning.” A number of posts accused the overall of mocking each the journalist and a former elected chief.
The phrase “Ahmed (Not) Sharif Chaudhry” started trending in Pakistan’s digital house by parody accounts.
One broadly shared publish learn, “This isn’t a press convention, this can be a collapse of decorum.”
One other mentioned the gesture marked “the funeral of professionalism” inside Pakistan’s navy media equipment.
Whereas Pakistan’s navy has not formally clarified whether or not the wink was intentional, the silence itself has amplified hypothesis, with analysts noting how even symbolic gestures now carry political weight in Pakistan’s extremely polarised local weather.
Context that made it explosive
This was not an remoted second of controversy. Chaudhry, as Director Normal of Inter-Providers Public Relations (ISPR), has been the general public face of Pakistan’s navy messaging throughout among the nation’s most delicate political durations — particularly after the arrest and imprisonment of Imran Khan.
What made this viral was not simply the alleged wink, however what it symbolised:
* A militarised state’s discomfort with direct questioning
* The shrinking house for dissent
* The optics of a senior common showing to mock each a journalist and a political rival
In Pakistan — the place ISPR briefings are rigorously staged, scripted, and broadcast — physique language is never unintentional. That’s the reason this incident resonated far past a single viral clip.