The political leadership of the country has termed the secret memo allegedly sent by President Asif Ali Zardari to the US administration a betrayal and demanded a thorough probe into the matter to determine the facts and bring the culprits to task.
Jamaat-e-Islami’s Senator Prof Khurshid Ahmad called the dispatching of the memo a shameful act on the part of the accused, adding that it should be thoroughly probed. However, he said he was convinced that the memo been sent as established by the statements of Mike Mullen.
“It is simply a high treason case and the accused be tried under Article 6 of the constitution,” he said.
PPP-Sherpao President Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao said it was an attempt to sabotage national interest. “President Zardari and others invited the intervention of foreign elements into state’s affairs which is not acceptable,” he said. He demanded a thorough investigation into it to get to the depth of the issue and added that the culprits must be taken to task. Parliamentarian from FATA Muneer Orakzai also demanded an investigation into the matter, saying if the facts were established, the culprits be taken to task by registering a case under Article 6 of the constitution.
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl Senator Dr Ismail Buledi termed the alleged memo a serious issue. He demanded formation of a commission to probe the matter, adding that the culprits must be booked for acting against national security. He said Article 6 of the constitution must be invoked if the accused were found guilty of the crime. PML-N Information Secretary Mushahidullah Khan called the alleged act on the part of the president and Hussain Haqqani very concerning. He said in a lenient view of the law, the accused was liable to be charged under Article 6 of the constitution. Khan said resignation by Pakistan’s Ambassador to the US Hussain Haqqani would make him scapegoat. He demanded a thorough probe into the matter.
PML-N leader Khwaja Muhammad Asif said Haqqani’s delivering a memo to Mike Mullen was “a reality that can’t be denied”.
Talking to reporters outside the Parliament House, Asif said, “How can reality be refuted. Haqqani is a corrupt man, which everybody knows.” Asif that all organizations and secret agencies were working under the prime minister, adding that Yousaf Raza Gilani must investigate into the matter “but it is very strange that he is using delaying tactics”. MQM senator Abdul Haseeb Khan was of the view that there was nothing in the case until the allegation was proven. He also demanded a probe into the issue to dig out the truth.
Meanwhile, speaking on the memo controversy in the National Assembly on Friday, Information Minister Firdous Ashiq Awan said the entire issue was “speculative, fabricated and engineered”. She said Haqqani had already denied writing any memo to the US authorities. She said the view point of the PML-N members on the matter was based only on media reports.