PPP leadership being victimised in accountability’s name: Ghani

Sindh Minister for Information & Archives and Labour Saeed Ghani told a press conference on Thursday that the leadership of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) was being victimised in the name of accountability.

He termed the measures being adopted by NAB against the leadership of the PPP unconstitutional.

The minister said that the same thing was done against Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who faced capital punishment in a fake case. It was on the record that the superior judiciary apologised but quite late, he added.

He said that it was the only case in the judicial history of Pakistan which was heard in the high court instead of the session court.

Ghani said that even after the passage of five to six years, the Supreme Court had yet not expressed its opinion on the reference which was filed by the then president Asif Ali Zardari in accordance with the constitution about the same case of Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.

He said that what followed was the filing of a series of fake cases against former president Zardari, who was arrested in fake cases like murder and possession of heroin. But even after spending 11 years in prison, he could not be convicted in any of the case as they were completely baseless, Ghani said.

He added that the same was done with Shaheed Benazir Bhutto as she was indicted in fake cases and subjected to a media trial. Unfortunately, she had to attend hearings of the fake cases filed against her in different cities on the same day with her children, the minister said. He said that the PML-N and the establishment during that period violated the constitution of Pakistan just to harass the PPP leadership.

Ghani said that the time once again proved that Shaheed Benazir Bhutto was also vindicated but no one apologised over it. He said the same was being done against the present-day leadership of the PPP that included former president Zardari, Chairman PPP Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, MNA Faryal Talpur, and Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah.

According to the minister, they all are being victimized, and the cases against them have no substance.

Through these fake cases, not only a media trial of the leadership of the PPP was being done but also the constitution of Pakistan was being violated unprecedently, he alleged. The minister said that the case of the fake account that initially started from around 40 billion had now reached three hundred million. He said even that amount was transferred to the account of neither Zardari nor Faryal Talpur, but in the account of Zardari Group of Companies, the complete record of which was available.

Ghani said that since the leadership of the PPP was signatory of the same company, they had been arrested. He clarified that Zardari was arrested even when he was not one of the signatories of the company. He questioned why the other people attached to this fake account case had not been arrested so far.

He also asked why Hasnain Mirza had not been arrested so far even when a reference had been filed against him, and why Khusro Bakhtiyar had not been arrested so far in an assets beyond means case.

He queried why Defence Minister Pervez Khatak, Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaiser, Pervaiz Elahi, speaker of Punjab Assembly, Chief Minister KPK Mehmood Khan and Prime Minister Imran Khan had not been arrested so far even when they all were facing investigations of NAB.

The minister said that Aleem Khan had also been released by NAB, which had never filed an appeal against the bail granted by the high court to all those who were facing serious charges.

He stated tagt the way MNA Faryal Talpur was shifted to the Adyala Jail from hospital on the eve of Eid-ul-Azha was also unprecedented. Everyone should keep this thing in mind that she had not been convicted as yet by the court of law, and she was facing the allegations that would never prove, he added. He said that no one was being allowed to see her since the day she was shifted to the prison.

Ghani said that the PPP leadership was even being denied the facilities that were given to Kulbhushan, Abhinandan and Ehsan ullah Ehsan. Even on Eid days when relatives of those facing murder charges were allowed to meet their relatives, the PPP leadership deprived of this right, he said.

Conspiracies were being hatched against the independent judiciary and the media, he added.

Ghani said that it was beyond comprehension that Aseefa Bhutto Zardari – daughter of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto – was not allowed to see her father on the Eid day. Even former president Asif Ali Zardari was not allowed to offer Eid prayers, he revealed. He said all this was condemnable.

The minister said that if Imran Khan was not afraid of the leadership of the PPP, then he should contest them politically by responding to queries of PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and former president Asif Ali Zardari in the parliament rather than through victimisation.

He said that the PPP leadership would face the conspiracies against them courageously as usual, as they were never afraid of anyone or anything.

Special Assistant to Chief Minister on CMIT Affairs Waqar Mehdi, while addressing the press conference, announced that the PPP would stage a protest demonstration on Saturday against NAB officials over how PPP MNA Faryal Talpur was shifted to prison on the eve of Eid-ul-Azha.