- Advising him to focus on ‘real enemy’, Zardari tells PM Sharif to stop ‘politics of revenge’ against PPP or face ‘disastrous consequences’
- Pledging PPP’s support for Pak Army’s war against terrorism, Zardari accuses PML-N of ‘dividing nation to save its natural allies, Taliban’
- Demanding justice in Model Town, Asghar Khan and Rana Mashhood cases, former president protests ‘harassment of Sindh bureaucrats by PM House’
Former president and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari has warned Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif against targeting PPP and other political opponents during a time when the country is fighting a crucial war against terrorism.
“Politics of revenge should immediately be stopped otherwise it will produce disastrous consequences,” Zardari warned in a statement from London.
The former president said that the steps being taken by the government clearly indicate that they are “dividing the nation in an attempt to save their natural allies; Taliban and the terrorists, and weaken the war against terror”.
“Mian Nawaz Sharif is repeating the politics of 1990’s. We accepted the results of General Elections 2013 for the sake of democracy, although those elections were ROs’ elections. The decisions just announced by the tribunals have proved our point that the PML-N received outside help and was made to win the elections,” the PPP co-chairman said.
“At a time when our innocent citizens are being killed by indiscriminate bombing in border villages by the enemy; when Pakistani Army is fighting a decisive war against the terrorists and also fighting at our borders, Mian Nawaz Sharif is targeting Peoples Party and other political opponents instead of challenging the real enemy.”
Zardari said that PPP stands fully with the Pakistan Army in the ongoing war against terrorism. “We salute our jawans who gave ultimate sacrifice in this war.”
OF LOPSIDED TARGETING:
“First Qasim Zia and son of Senator Bangash were arrested and now Dr Asim has been arrested. Immediately after that warrants for arrest for the former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and Makhdoom Amin Fahim who is ill has also been issued. Bureaucrats in Sindh are being harassed by the FIA and NAB. The chief secretary of Sindh is on bail. All this unmistakably presents a clear pattern of political harassment and revenge,” Zardari said, claiming that such acts under “direct orders” from the Prime Minister House had “immobilised” Sindh.
He said that actions being taken by the federal agencies in Sindh are “clear violation of the Constitution”. “If they want to conduct fair accountability, they should first take action against a federal minister who has given a confessional statement before a magistrate that he has been involved in money-laundering for the Sharif-brothers. Only then we will know how clean the followers of the N-League are,” Zardari said.
Moreover, the former president said that a video surfaced in Punjab in which provincial minister Rana Mashhood was seen receiving money on behalf of Sharif brothers, but was not arrested.
Moreover, the PPP co-chairman demanded that the report of Justice Najfi on Model Town killing should be made public and all involved in this murder of innocent people be arrested. “Aren’t those who killed 14 people, including women, in the Model Town tragedy, terrorists? Why are they not being arrested?”
He also demanded that all characters involved in the Asghar Khan case should also be apprehended.
PPP CAN’T BE COWED DOWN:
Furthermore, Zardari said that PPP is a party of “fearless followers who cannot be defeated by the threat of executions, lashing or imprisonment”.
“It seems that Nawaz Sharif has not learnt any lessons from the past. We are not the ones who fled to Jeddah after seeking pardon. The nation knows well that the honour of applying for pardon by any politician in the country only belongs to Mian Nawaz Sharif,” he said.
Furthermore, Zardari said that Nawaz Sharif wais the prime minister of the country and Shahbaz Sharif was the chief minister of Punjab “only because of the PPP”. “It was the Peoples Party which removed ban from becoming prime minister or the chief minister for the third time – although it was evident to us that it will only serve the interests of Mian brothers.”
WHEN PPP RAISED VOICE:
Earlier, following the arrest of former petroleum minister Dr Asim Hussain and party leader Qasim Zia, PPP had reacted strongly and had explicitly refuted allegations leveled against its office bearers.
The PPP denied the impression it was involved in terror financing, saying the party had itself suffered huge losses in the fight against terrorism. “How can you say that PPP is involved in terror financing?”
The party’s senior vice president Sherry Rehman said the PPP has always been on the front-line in the war against terror. PPP has always respected the judiciary and will not carry out action that hampers the current democratic setup in the country, she said.
Talking about the ongoing anti-corruption drive in Sindh, Rehman clarified, “PPP has no objection whatsoever over the operation and will create no hurdle in its implementation.” However, she said it looked as if politics of revenge was being carried out with PPP as the “sole target”.
“We will keep alive our tradition of struggle for democracy and will face every atrocity,” said the PPP vice president.
RECALLING THE MQM CASE:
It may also be taken into account that Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) has also strongly protested against what it calls extrajudicial killings and forced disappearances and arrests of its workers “under the garb of the Karachi Operation”.
The party – which resigned from Parliament in protest over excesses being committed during the Rangers-led Karachi operation – criticised the PML-N run federal and PPP-run Sindh governments for not being able to ensure a transparent security operation in the metropolis.
MQM claims it is being targeted under the security operation, a claim now being voiced by the PPP.
However, the federal government, paramilitary force Rangers and the army’s upper command have on numerous occasions insisted that the security operation in Sindh is apolitical and targeting only criminal elements.
