Not a clerical error: Someone in PML-N deliberately altered Khatam-e-Nabuwwat clause

An investigation initiated by the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) into the controversy surrounding the amendment to the Khatam-e-Nabuwwat declaration for electoral candidates has revealed that the clause was deliberately altered, contrary to claims made by some party leaders that it was a clerical mistake, a report in the local media said on Saturday.

On October 7, PML-N President Nawaz Sharif had formed a three-member committee to probe the issue of alteration in the Khatam-e-Nabuwwat (Finality of Prophethood) Declaration Clause in Electoral Reforms Bill 2017 and ordered a report to be submitted within 24 working hours.

Headed by Leader of the House in Senate Raja Zafarul Haq, the committee included Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal and Federal Minister for Climate Change Mushahidullah Khan.

According to the Express Tribune, Raja Zafarul Haq has confirmed that a deliberate attempt was made to alter the clause, and that the PML-N chief had been apprised about the committee’s findings. He refused to share details of the findings with the paper.

Mushahidullah Khan also confirmed to the paper that the report had been sent to Sharif, but refused to reveal the findings. He said it was up to the PML-N president to take a decision.

Earlier this month, Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif had advised his elder brother to kick the person responsible for the blunder out of the federal cabinet. Prior to this demand of stern action against the individuals responsible, the federal government tried its best to downplay the entire episode by quickly reversing the amendment and calling it a clerical mistake.

It was after Shehbaz’s demand for a stern action that Nawaz decided to form a three-member committee.

On Friday, during a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Law and Order, Shehbaz Sharif reiterated his statement that the government firmly believed in the Finality of Prophethood of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

He said the federal government had restored the oath statement of Khatam-e-Nabuwwat to its original form and a committee was also constituted by the PML-N president to conduct immediate investigation.

The statement from Shehbaz on Friday was not just in the backdrop of the amendment controversy, but was also meant to contain the damage done after Law Minister Rana Sanaullah’s controversial statement regarding the Ahmedi community that brought him into the limelight for all the wrong reasons and got his membership of the Lahore High Court Bar Association cancelled.