Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal said on Tuesday that Khatm-e-Nabuwat clause in nomination papers has been restored in its original form and creating religious furore on the issue is injudicious now. Speaking at a press conference here, he said that all political parties jointly prepared the new nomination form and it was a collective error that was fixed within 24 hours. "There is no difference of opinion when it comes to the matter of Khatm-e-Nabuwat so this issue shouldn't be misused for the political gains," he said.
"Any other legislation in our Constitution can be amended except for this (Khatm-e-Nabuwat law)," he remarked. "There is no reason for staging protests on this issue. That will only create unrest in the country. This is a non-issue, I hope the religious parties realize this," he added.
When asked why no one has been held responsible for the change in the clause, he explained that no one committed any big crime. "The members of different parties were present when the bill was passed in the assembly," he said, adding that "For three months, no one questioned the bill even though all the relevant documents were easily accessible."
Iqbal said that protests were a democratic right but some protests were hampering peace in the country. The protests lead to obstruction and the responsibility of which falls on the people that hold these irresponsible protests and not the government, he added. Earlier this month, the government had rectified a "clerical error" in a clause of the Election Bill 2017 on Khatm-e-Nabuwat (Finality of Prophethood) in the declaration form of the public office holders.
He said that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan only pointed out the problems for his own vested interests and ignored the progress achieved by the government. "Khan sees even positive socio-economic developments with a negative spectacle," he alleged.
The government will complete its five years tenure, he said while ensuring that election 2018 will take place in August 2018.He said the PML-N has taken oath to defend democracy whereby some of the politicians are buzzing around fabricated stories when the country is really progressing at a normal pace.
Iqbal said the political opponents were downplaying the development work which had taken place in the country during the PML-N government. He said, "We won't let the system to be derailing by any one as we follow the constitution." "Other countries are acknowledging Pakistan's economic progress," he added. Iqbal said all this had been possible because of competency of the government to steer the economy towards growth.
He further said that unrestricted freedom on social media is promoting a dangerous trend that is dissemination of fake news, adding that they will devise a comprehensive framework to curb this specter. Fifth generation warfare is all about creating widespread panic through fake news. "Social media is a prime example of this. Before next election, we must ensure extending democratic freedoms and norms to legitimate communication channels," he said.
He also lauded the security forces' role in restoration of peace across Pakistan. The minister maintained that the Panama Papers case verdict had caused political uncertainty and negatively which affected the economy.