Prime Minister Imran Khan has reportedly directed the Ministry of Interior to approach provincial governments to discourage the practice of giving VIP protocol under the garb of security to the accused in corruption related cases, well informed sources told Business Recorder.These directions were issued during a meeting of federal cabinet held on June 18, 2019 with Prime Minister in the chair.
Presently, former president Asif Ali Zardari, his sister Faryal Talpur and Opposition Leader in Punjab Assembly, Hamza Shahbaz Sharif are in custody of National Accountability Bureau (NAB) whereas former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, former minister for railways, Khawaja Saad Rafique and his brother Khawaja Salman Rafique are in jail. In addition to others, two top bureaucrats Fawad Hasan Fawad and Ahad Cheema are also in Kot Lakhpat jail. On June 12, 2019, in a morning tweet, the Prime Minister said, "It is time for the nation to stop glorifying money launderers who have damaged our nation and our people and [are] now seeking refuge behind 'democracy'".
He said they should not be given protocol either. "Where are plunderers of public wealth given such special treatment? Time to treat them as criminals," he said. After the Prime Ministers' tweet, many PTI stalwarts including Minister for Science and Technology, Ch Fawad Hussan, and Prime Minister's Special Assistant on Information and Broadcasting Firdous Ashiq Awan echoed upped their attacks on the opposition leaders facing charges of corruption and money laundering.
The Prime Minister was also not in favour of issuing production orders of Asif Zardari and Khawaja Saad Rafique due to the opposition uproar in Senate and National Assembly for a couple of days. However, both sides reached an agreement with the Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaiser reportedly due to third party intervention after which production orders of both Asif Zardari and Khawaja Saad Rqfique were issued. Both the leaders are now attending National Assembly's budget session.
The Prime Minister was also reportedly angered at the opposition in National Assembly after they raised slogans against his sister Aleema Khan. The Cabinet unanimously condemned the glorification of criminals and apprehended that this practice will give a wrong message to society, which should be discontinued. The Cabinet also decided that the Ministry of Interior will approach the respective provincial governments with the request to discourage the practice of giving VIP protocol under the garb of security to the accused in corruption related cases.
Comments
Comments are closed.