Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Babar Awan on Thursday accused Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) of not taking action against Chairman Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) Zafar Hijazi after he was found involved in tampering with the record of Chaudhary Sugar Mills.
Talking to reporters outside Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), he said the SECP chairman had no remorse despite the fact that he was involved in record tampering to save the Sharif family, and was openly threatening to do much more. "This shows he [Hijazi] has no regret for whatever he has done. Forgery is a crime and he should have been behind the bars but he is wandering freely like he has done nothing. I want to ask the FIA that law should be equal for an accused like Hijazi and supermodel Ayyan Ali," he said.
He asked the Supreme Court to take notice of the threats made by the SECP chairman, despite being caught red-handed in forgery, which was a serious crime, but he was still running the Commission. Declaring imposition of section 144 in the federal capital ahead of Independence Day that falls on August 14, he said if the ban was not lifted, the party would be left with no option but to drag the government in the court.
Awan said that imposition of section 144 in the capital in the wake of joint investigation team (JIT) report was nothing but to stop the people who turned up to the capital on Independence Day. "The government is doing all this out of fear," he claimed. The district administration on Wednesday last imposed section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code in Islamabad, citing "certain segments of society are planning to take out processions and are likely to threaten public peace and tranquility."
The order went into effect immediately for two months. The section 144 prohibits public gatherings of five or more people, rallies and processions in any public place within the limits of the area where the law has been imposed. He said resignation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was not enough, and there should be fresh elections after the startling report of JIT which has exposed the ruling junta.
Awan, who has recently joined PTI and is representing PTI chairman Imran Khan in different cases pending in different courts and the ECP advised the government to hold fresh elections, said it was the only solution to resolve the prevalent crisis. "The people want fresh elections as they want to choose a new leader who could steer the country out of the prevalent crisis," he said in an obvious reference to his party leader Imran Khan, as he is optimistic to clean sweep next elections.
Besides resignation of the Prime Minister, he also demanded the resignation of Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif as well as Minister for Finance Ishaq Dar. "We call upon PM Nawaz Sharif, CM Punjab Shahbaz Sharif and Minister for Finance Ishaq Dar to resign immediately. We call on Pakistanis to give another push to this system," he continued.