Comment: Aftab Sultan is not Javed Iqbal

By Ansar Abbasi

ISLAMABAD: Aftab Sultan is not Javed Iqbal. Those pressurising the incumbent NAB chairman to repeat the tainted recent history of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) under its highly controversial last chief are dealing with the wrong person.

Informed sources said that the NAB Chairman Aftab Sultan is being pressurised regarding the matter pertaining to the Bureau. He is not prepared to accept any external influence to make any case against anyone or unfairly settle any corruption case or inquiry pending before the Bureau.

The sources said that Aftab Sultan’s concerns and reservations have already been conveyed to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. It is hinted by the government that the prime minister may meet Aftab Sultan early next week.

Those who know Sultan and his history in government service believe that Aftab Sultan would not compromise on his principles. According to a source, he would not allow anyone to turn the NAB into a tool of political victimisation as has been excessively done during Javed Iqbal’s tenure.

“He would prefer to quit than dance to the tunes of others,” a source who has closely worked with Sultan said, adding that if Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif does not ensure his independence as NAB chairman, he would prefer to quit than continuing as a puppet chairman.

Aftab Sultan is a retired BS-22 officer of the Police Service of Pakistan. Besides having an unblemished career in the Police Service, he had also served as DG IB and is credited with overhauling the Intelligence Bureau as an effective security agency.

During his tenure, the Intelligence Bureau not only was equipped with advanced int’l technologies but it also played a pivotal role in curbing the menace of terrorism by successfully targeting multiple terrorist networks. Aftab Sultan is also keen to transform the NAB into an effective accountability organisation instead of continuing it for witch-hunting and victimisation of politicians, bureaucrats, businessmen and others.

A NAB insider said that ever since the arrival of Aftab Sultan, there is a policy of dealing with each and every complaint or inquiry on its merits. Only those cases are being pursued where there is solid evidence for prosecution. No blackmailing is allowed in the NAB under Aftab Sultan, the source said, adding that he has appointed some reputed officers in NAB to improve the quality of accountability process. However, the kind of support he requires from the government to overhaul the Bureau is lacking.

It was reported earlier by The News when he was posted in Sargodha as a DIG when Gen Pervez Musharraf had held a referendum, Sultan couldn’t obtain enough support from Sargodha Division and was held responsible for non-cooperation and, therefore, removed.

He was later appointed DG IB by the then prime minister Yusuf Raza Gilani but was removed around two years later. One of the main reasons was his reported refusal to allow the use of secret funds for political purposes. He had also declined to share intelligence with the Presidency on the grounds that the IB was supposed to provide information to the prime minister only.

Another reason for falling out of favour was his advice to PM Gilani to adopt a middle path on writing a letter to the Swiss authorities for opening cases against the-then president Asif Ali Zardari.

As the 2013 elections approached, Sultan was named IGP Punjab. Afterwards, Sultan was picked up again as IB chief when Nawaz Sharif became the prime minister. In his four-year (2013-17) term, Sultan made IB the leading counter-terror agency. The IB played an instrumental role in an intelligence-led operation carried out in Karachi with around 80 percent actions taken on the information gathered by the agency and solving some of the most significant cases. Imran Khan, however, criticised Sultan for his reported role in providing an important information about the alleged involvement of the-then head of another prime intelligence agency to prime minister Nawaz Sharif in organising the PTI-PAT dharna in 2014. Imran had blamed Sultan for doling out funds to journalists and anchors on behalf of the PMLN government for campaigning against the PTI — an accusation he strongly rebutted. When Imran Khan became the prime minister, he also cross-checked this allegation from his own DGIB but it turned out to be untrue.

The Imran Khan government tried to implicate Sultan through NAB in a case of importing luxury vehicles by the Nawaz Sharif government for the Saarc summit. The summary of vehicles and subsequent purchase was submitted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Sultan, as DG IB, offered assistance in technical matters as to what kind of vehicles were required keeping in view the security needs. He was summoned by the NAB thrice and he appeared each time. No further notice was served.