Deputy Secretary General Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Ataullah Tarar on Friday appeared before the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) team here at its regional office in a probe involving accountability court judge Arshad Malik video scandal.

Ataullah Tarar remained present in the FIA office for over hour and the FIA team questioned him about the video of Arshad Malik. The PML-N workers were also gathered outside FIA office and chanted slogans in favour of Ataullah. "We know that actions including raid on the PML-N Secretariat are tactics to pressurize us but this fascist approach would be defeated," said Tarar outside the regional office of the Federal Investigation Agency. He said that the recent action against the PML-N and other political opponents is nothing but revengeful tactics, and vowed to keep continuing struggle against the PTI. He also said that Prime Minister Imran Khan wanted to create unrest in country by arresting all of them but they would not surrender and would continue their struggle against him.

It may be noted that the FIA team had raided the Model Town office of PML-N in Lahore Thursday and seized record in connection with the judge video scandal.

On the other hand, the PML-N's spokesperson, in a statement issued via Twitter, strongly condemned Prime Minister Imran Khan's remarks in which he said there was a "presence of mafia" in newspapers. Marriyum Aurangzeb in a strongly-worded statement shared on Twitter, criticized the prime minister for "calling the media a mafia". "An incompetent, incapable and selected prime minister is saying that there is a mafia in the media. It is shameful, regrettable and deplorable," the PML-N leader said, adding: "A person involved in money laundering, imprisoning his opponents in death-row cells, closing down the parliament and risking the livelihoods and businesses of citizens" was referring to the media as a mafia.

She accused the prime minister of destroying the economy and handing over the country to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) while joining hands with thieves and robbers. She also held the premier responsible for taking "talk shows off air, influencing editorials and stealing ballots of the people."

Copyright Business Recorder, 2019