ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Hussain Chaudhary has asked the opposition parties, especially, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) to stop campaign against the military and the judiciary.
Addressing a press conference here Monday, he said that the government has tasked Minister for Economic Affairs Division (EAD) Omar Ayub Khan to collaborate with the State Bank of Pakistan in probing from where organisers of the Asma Jahangir Conference and the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) arranged funds.
He said that the government has also tasked the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to probe the funding for Asma Jahangir Conference held in and the PFUJ’s function held in Islamabad, which were addressed by the Supreme leader of the PML-N Mian Nawaz Sharif and the PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz Sharif, respectively.
Responding to a question about recently-leaked audio tape of former Chief Justice Saqib Nisar, Chaudhary Fawad asked the opposition parties to stop giving statement against the judiciary and the military. He said that the moment cases are reopened against Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz Sharif, new audios, videos or affidavits emerge.
He said that Maryam Nawaz had filed the 16th request for adjournment in her case in the Islamabad High Court.
In a tweet tagging the copy of the application, he said that the PML-N had launched an organised propaganda campaign against courts and Pakistan’s armed forces. He said these people rightly could be termed a ‘Sicilian mafia’.
He said that the opposition particularly, the PML-N, should stop targeting the judiciary and the army, it was against the Constitution.
The information minister said that the case against the former prime minister was made after revelations by an international publication and Pakistan or any of its institutes had nothing to do with it.
“Nawaz owns apartments in such posh areas of London where even the prime minister of Britain cannot afford to have one and Maryam on the other hand says she does not have any properties in Pakistan or the UK,” he added.
Fawad said that Nawaz Sharif could not give the money trail during any stage of the investigation against him, during the trial, or in the parliament, adding that number of judges and courts were involved but he could not provide any evidence despite having multiple opportunities.
Giving the example of Prime Minister Imran Khan, Fawad said that the premier has given his money trail spanning over 40 years.
He said that every child of Pakistan knew how the affairs were conducted during the tenures of Nawaz Sharif and Asif Ali Zardari. “The nation wants to see the receipts of their belongings without getting into the debate whether the [leaked audio clip of ex-CJP Saqib Nisar] tape is genuine or not.”
Answering a question, he said that the government wanted the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to move forward with the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) for the next elections, as it was now backed by legislation also. “Millions of overseas Pakistanis are going to vote and we want to make the process easy for them,” he added.
He said Pakistan received many good news this week as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) matter was also resolved which would stabilise the economy.
Earlier, addressing an event at Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University, he urged the youth to learn from the modern agriculture techniques of the other countries in order to uplift this important sector of economy.
He stressed that we have to shift from traditional to modern farming to exploit the country’s true agriculture potential.
He noted that Pakistan can be a great source of agriculture exports as the regions such as the Gulf are open for us.
The information minister said the vice chancellors of universities should set target as to how they can better contribute to the economy.
He also emphasised the need for creating close linkages between the universities and private enterprises.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021