A senior journalist in Pakistan, Absar Alam, recently wrote a column about the honey trap strategies used by the country’s intelligence agency, the ISI. The article exposed how the ISI has been trapping and blackmailing young girls and making their videos to blackmail influential people, including diplomats. These strategies have been in use since 2014, as mentioned in the column.
Alam mentioned that the honey trap strategy is used to blackmail influential people into following the ISI’s line. For instance, former army chief General Bajwa showed a video to Chief Justice Saqib Nisar, in which a woman indulged in immoral acts with a diplomat. He did this during a meeting to impress the Chief Justice with his competence and ability after watching the "sacrifice" rendered by the woman in the video for national service.
This conversation between Bajwa and Saqib is non-serious and shows the height of indifference and moral decline. It becomes a painful reality if it is taking place between the then chief justice and army chief who used to be guardians of fundamental rights, life, property, and honor of the nation. Alam questioned whether the feat that Bajwa referred to was only an incident or a strategy.
Furthermore, Alam discussed another instance when Imran Khan's sit-in was expected at any moment in 2014. A 23-year-old female anchor of a famous TV channel called him in an angry mood and shared the modus operandi of honey-trapping. The female anchor used to visit ISPR, ISI, various army-related operations and projects and programs along with other journalists in different areas of KPK, Balochistan, and Sindh.
In those days, the campaign to propagate the narrative of Imran Khan through media and certain anchors and present him as Sadiq -o-Amin (truthful and honest), and malign Nawaz Sharif through allegations of being a thief, dacoit, corrupt, traitor, blasphemer, and infidel was at their peak. Directors and producers of the project Imran realized that a male anchor and columnist working in a major TV channel (Geo?), while deviating from the dictated lines, was doing negative criticism of Imran Khan's style of politics and the PTI government's performance in KPK instead of doing positive reporting. Alongside, he also criticized the secret mentors of Imran Khan.
A plan to put this male columnist and anchor on the right track was finalized, and an ISI officer, whose code name begins with the Urdu alphabet "Ain," was given this important task. One day Colonel "Ain," told the female anchor that in view of her potential, she can prove an 'asset' to the country. That is why he approached her officially. Besides continuing her journalistic work, she may also work for them (ISI), she was told. It is the best opportunity for her to be recognized for national service and be promoted, she was told further.
For becoming a national asset, the female anchor was asked to make friends with the male anchor of a prominent television channel. She was to then strengthen this friendship to the "unwatchable and inappreciable" extent. "So that, we at this point could make an indecent video on the basis of which we could blackmail this male anchor to follow our line," said Alam. It was guaranteed that her face will not be exposed, and no one could ever know that it was her.
The female anchor said that Colonel "Ain" told this thing with so much confidence and businesslike manner as if it is not a big deal. "This shows what kind of efforts are made in our name and how the lives of daughters of the nation are destroyed after their exploitation," said Alam. After a few
