A spokesperson of the Interior Ministry strongly contradicted a statement issued by Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Spokesperson Farhatullah Babar here on Monday.
Elaborating, the spokesperson said it has become a habit with PPP leaders to issue distorted and contradictory statements, frequently indulging in double-speak and beating around the bush, said a statement issued here.
If indeed Difa-i-Pakistan Council (DPC) is such a questionable organisation, then why didn’t the PPP government resist its formation in 2009?
More importantly, where was Farhatullah Babar when the same organisation held large-scale public meetings and media conferences during the tenure of PPP government?
It is also a matter of record that the former president had interactions with members of proscribed organisations—who had met him during his tenure in presidency—and pictures are available on record, printed by national dailies at that time.
Perhaps, at that time, Farhatullah Babar was not aware of these meetings, despite his presence in the presidency, the spokesperson said. Again, it is not just the president, but a long list of PPP leaders, with whom record and photographs of meetings with members of proscribed organisations are available on record, which can be made available on demand, he added.
“Babar can be excused for turning a blind eye to all these meetings and indulging in the kind of politicking that he is engaged in because that is all PPP is good at,” he said.
However, he added, what can’t be excused are Babar’s conscious efforts to subvert the successes achieved against terrorism in the last three years. “Babar’s views are nothing less than insulting the realities and facts on the ground,” the spokesperson said.
From a peak of 2,060 terrorist incidents taking place in one year alone—when PPP was at zenith of its power—to the current year’s figures of 754, the hard truth that does not appeal to Babar or to his party is that while his government did nothing to address the monster of terrorism, the incumbent government’s record speaks for itself, he maintained.
The attention of PPP is also drawn towards internationally recognised and admissible fact that “terrorism and hardcore militancy and extremism is at its lowest ebb since last one decade in Pakistan, acknowledged by US policy think-tanks, other global terrorism monitoring forums, foreign governments and international media.”
The PPP is advised to concentrate on its performance in Sindh and keep factual realities in mind before making statements to confuse the public and distort both history and current affairs, the spokesperson concluded.