Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry Friday said cries of the corrupt elements from Lahore to Larkana are being heard as for the first time in the history of Pakistan, big fish are being arrested under the accountability laws.
Talking to media persons after inaugurating a real estate exposition here, the minister said there is no threat to democracy, economy or Islam in the country. “Only the future of corrupt people is in danger following the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) action,” he said. He said Asif Zardari, Bilawal Bhutto and Hamza Shehbaz are shouting against the NAB as they have been caught red handed by the accountability watchdog and cannot escape the law now. He said had Hamza been a real political leader, he would have cooperated with NAB team and not resisted the effort of his arrest. Fawad said Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has the history of attacking national institutions as its workers had attacked Supreme Court in the past, and now they have attacked the NAB team performing its legal duties. He said instead of cooperating with the NAB team, Hamza unleashed his staff who tortured and attacked the personnel and interfered in official business.
He said Rs 85 billion assets of Shehbaz Shairf have been unearthed abroad and proofs of Hamaza Shehbaz’s involvement in money laundering has been traced. He said in response to NAB action, the institution is being ridiculed.
“But the process of accountability will not stop by such threats,” he asserted. Prime Minister’s Spokesman Nadeem Afzal Chan has said that NAB is an independent and autonomous body and that the government has nothing to do with its affairs. He said Hamza should have morally presented himself for the arrest. Being the opposition leader in the Punjab Assembly, he should be a role model for the people rather than interfering in the government affairs, torturing the NAB team and showing hooliganism. Chan said Sharif family is getting nervous like a fish out of the water. He said accountability of the elite never took place in Pakistan as police and the system were used for political purposes in the past. He said all are equal before the law, adding that the country needs immediate economic reforms. “We are ready for an economic charter with them but they will have to be answerable for the money they looted in the past. They praise the decision of Hudabiya Paper Mills which was in their favour but criticise the institutions when the decisions comes against them,” he added.
Punjab Chief Minister’s Spokesman Shahbaz Gill, meanwhile, said NAB is an independent department and doing its work under the constitution and the law. He said bails of Sharif family are always approved but leaders of other parties are not getting bails.