Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has claimed that students of seminaries in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) were part of the foot soldiers for Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) Nov 2 Islamabad lockdown.
“Madrassas funded by the K-P government are paying back & providing foot soldiers for PTI’s attempt to take over Islamabad on November 2,” the defence minister tweeted on Tuesday.
The statement came after PTI’s announcement to sieze the federal capital to pressurize Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for an inquiry into Panama Leaks.
In June this year, the K-P government set aside Rs300 million in the budget allocation for religious seminary Darul Uloom Haqqania.
The PTI chairman had defended the move, saying it was intended to help the students assimilate in the society and keep them away from radicalisation.
Leaked documents from the Mossack Fonseca law firm in Panama in April showed several world leaders, including the premier’s three children, Hassan and Hussain and Maryam, owning at least three offshore holding companies registered in the British Virgin Islands.
The government and the opposition parties have been unable to evolve joint Terms of Reference (ToR) for the Panama Papers investigation. While the government insists that investigation should involve all those named in corruption cases, opposition parties say the process should begin with the assets of the premier’s family.